We Were Fine The Way We Were
by le.etoile
Summary: Ed and Al come home for good both back to normal. When they get there, Ed notices that Winry has mentally changed in a way he can't understand. She lies and cries to herself, which Ed wants to figure out why it happens. Chapter 13 up!
1. Coming Home

A/N: Wheee a new story. Hopefully this will be worth reading for you peeps. This chappie is mainly plot development and such between the main characters,(Ed 'n' Winry. Not much Al, but he'll be in there!)

I do not own the anime/manga, Fullmetal Alchemist, or any of it's characters. I only own the idea in this story.

Chapter 1 

Ed's POV

I walk down the long road with my brother Al to the house we are finally going to call our home. I turned my head slightly to look at my brother, and he notices me. He smiles at me.

It seems as if it was impossible for it to happen again. I really never thought I would see Alphonse smile at me again. There was silence between us for a while, but as they say, "Silence is golden."

Al suddenly startles me by speaking in a quiet, content voice. "Brother, won't Winry and Aunt Pinako be happy that we're back? And that we'll be home forever?" He speaks. I stop walking for a moment and he stops a few paces ahead of me, turning around to see and hear my answer.

I smile a little at him. I also speak quietly, "Yeah. They will." I still stand in the same spot, only I lift up my right arm.

It was normal again, like any other human being's, but it still reminded me of the automail. Most likely because I've had it for years. The automail that was made with love and patience by her.

When it rained, my metallic limbs would hurt only because of that certain weather. The other day, right before we were leaving Central, it was raining then too. I had my arm back, but it still hurt like before. Maybe it was because it reminded me of the limbs she'd given me, saved me with.

Al suddenly spoke, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Brother, Winry will be glad you got your body back," he spoke, smiling.

I laughed a little and spoke, "But she'll be even happier that you got you're entire body back. She'll probably be disappointed in me because now she can't add "New features" onto my automail." Alphonse laughed, "We should keep walking. We want to get there before the sun sets you know."

I sighed, "Yeah, I know." I picked up the luggage I was carrying before and we started to walk again. I looked at the sky and the sun was getting closer to the West. It reminded me of that certain day.

"_ALPHONSE!" I yelled out into the large room. His metal body was laying there on the floor, not moving at all. "__**ALPHONSE!"**__ I yelled again. I tried to get up, but my left leg failed me, only causing me to collapse suddenly. _

_When I fell, my knee had hit the ground quite hard, causing it to hurt a lot. I grunted in pain, not realizing something was different. Something had changed. _

_Usually when my left leg or right arm hit something, it wouldn't hurt at all, but only the initial shock would rattle me. I quickly pulled up my pant leg to see my left leg have a failry large cut into it and it was bleeding._

_ I was amazed. _

_I instantaneously pulled up my sleeve on my right arm, only again to find that it was flesh. I had muscles and blood actually running through my limbs that I had lost before. _

_My mind suddenly flashed back to the fact that Al wasn't moving in his suit. I tried to stand up once more, but I only ended up limping over to the metal body. _

_I hoped with all my hear that nothing had happened to him, but to my surprise, I found my brother, in his actual body, laying in front of the suit. _

_"AL!" I spoke in a loud tone, hoping that he could hear me and wake up. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around his shoulders and tried to hug him as tightly as I could. _

_"Alphonse," I said in a quiet tone. 'He's back. He's normal again. We did it,' I thought to myself, closing my eyes. "_

_Brother?" I heard a faint voice. I opened my eyes to see my little brother, rubbing his eyes as if he had just woken up from a long nap. "Brother, since when was I small enough to fit in your lap?" He said confused and tired. I laughed and all I did was hold him closer. _

_"You're back Al, I can finally see your smile again." I told him softly. He responded, "Hm, that's great, brother, wake me up later to tell me more about it." And drifted off into slumber once more. _

_I chuckled a little and looked out the window of the large room. The sun was setting, the end of an old day. And just the beginning of a new one._

Winry's POV

I sighed to myself. It had been almost 6 years since they had left. During that time, they had not come home very much, but only for the occasional automail repair.

But during the last year and a half, they had not come home at all. It made me worry. I sighed again, putting down the automail arm I was working on while thinking.

Ed, he would alays come back with his arm all busted. I would, as usual, throw my wrench at his head to make an attempt to teach him a lesson that he would not like to learn.

Al wasn't any better. Again, any time they did come home, Al was all dented and scratched up, or his body wasn't able to move at all due to missing metal limbs. And it's not like I could help with that much either. It was either give Al oil for his limbs, or finish up Ed's automail as quick as I could so he could fix up Al.

Either way, they always left in a hurry, and everytime they never said goodbye before they left.

I put down the automail on the table and went upstairs to take a shower before making dinner for myself. During those 6 years, I saw Ed change dramatically, both mentally and physically. He seemed to be more knowledgable everytime I saw him, and he looked older and more mature than he did last. I changed a lot too.

After a while I realized that the wardrobe being worn over and over again began to get old. Unlike Ed, I didn't change a whole lot. Maybe my hair was longer or maybe I got taller, but I was still same "kid" I had been years ago.

I walked down the stairs, drying my hair with a towel wearing a black turtleneck and some denim shorts.

As like everyday, I would look out the window at the long road to see if they were coming here on that same road, the sun going down at the same spot.

And as like everyday, I would see both of them, not as they are now, but as they were then, before the accidental human transmutation. I sighed, making my way to the kitchen to make dinner.

Earlier, I did say I hadn't changed much during these last 6 years, but one major thing did happen. Granny Pinako died, just 3 days before my 16th birthday.

I never did tell Ed or Al, whenever they came between the 2 year and 1 year mark. I always told them that she had to deal with a client out of town. But the pain of not telling anyone, the pain of keeping it in, kept dwelling and growing within my heart. It was harder everyday to make it through, thinking, 'How can I handle being alone for the rest of my life?'

Ed and Al being gone made my life miserable, making me think of things I shouldn't.

I sat down at the table with my small plate of food sitting in front of me. I didn't eat it, but just thinking about all this made me sad, and depression finally hit me.

Hard.

I pushed the food to the side and I started bawling. I cried for all those years that I never did cry, because I was trying to be strong.

I heard voices from the doorway, but I knew better. These last couple of years had been making me hear things, see things, missing things. I knew my mind seemed to be slipping from me because of the anxiety and stress I put upon myself.

I heard the voices another time.

I got up and walked slowly to the door, trying to dry my tears, but it was no avail, they still found a way to get out. I opened the door. "H-hello?" I stuttered, wiping both my eyes.

"Winry!" I heard two voices call my name. I opened my eyes slowly, praying that the voices weren't being imagined this time, finally just for real.

And there they were. Alphonse and Edward, both standing on the door step. Both, at the same time, hugged me as if we had been seperated forever.

I stood there shocked, eyes glassy and tears trailing down my face. Ed spoke into my ear, "Winry, we're home. For good." Al made a statement too, "We won't leave again, we promise."

My eyes closed again, and tears still continued. I put my arms around them and we seemed to have a never ending hug. I thought to myself, 'They're finally here. They're finally home.' I spoked out loud,

"The hardest thing to do was wait for you guys. The hardest thing… Now the waiting is done…"

A/N: Read and review. There will be more chapters. This is probably gonna be a fluff fic, but there might be some not-fluff stuff later, like fighting or whatever, but I'm just brainstorming and rambling at 1 in the morning. ;) Review please!


	2. Going Outside

A/N: Chapter 2 is up. Reading so many fanfics and watching amvs made my brain go weird, so ideas in here may be odd, lol.

Chapter 2

Winry's POV

We were all sitting in the living room. Al was sitting in a chair from the kitchen and Ed was sitting next to me on the couch.

I kept my arms wrapped around my body, as if I was I was hugging myself. Al spoke quietly, "Winry, we're so glad to see you." I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's great to see you guys," I replied to him slowly.

I could tell Ed was looking at me from the corner of his eye.

He spoke, "Winry, something's on your mind and you're not telling us. You're usually ecstatic when we come home. And where's Aunt Pinako any ways?"

What he did struck something in my brain. I did something to him that I never do. I lied to him. Not just a small white lie, but a big lie. That could last for a while.

My voice quivered as I spoke, "Um, Ed, Granny Pinako got another job in another city. She said she'd be back after a year or so. I told her I'd watch the house and wait…" Al said happily, "Winry! That's great! Aunt Pinako got another job! I mean, it probably means that it's a better job and she likes it more. Is she still working with automail?"

I looked at him with glassy eyes. I spoke, "Yes Al, she still is." He just smiled and nodded.

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost 10. 'I think I just need time to myself…' I thought. "I think I'm going to go to my room and sleep for a while. Do you remember where your rooms are?" I stated as I stood up slowly.

They both nodded in agreement. "Okay. I'll see you guys in the morning then," I told them, putting on a fake smile. I hoped that they couldn't tell it was fake.

I started to walk away when someone grabbed my wrist. I turned around and Ed was holding my wrist.

He stood up and gave me a hug. He spoke softly, "It really is good to see you Winry. Good night." Slightly shocked at what just happened, I gradually put my hands on his back, returning the hug.

"Good night Ed," I told him monotone. I gave Al a hug and we said our goodnights. I started to walk up the stairs, hearing only small chat from below and creaking stairs from above.

As soon as I reached the top step, I sighed and spoke softly, "It's all a hopeless dream…" And made my way to my bedroom.

Ed's POV

I saw her walk up the stairs slowly. Just seeing her now, made me think something was going on. Al and I haven't even been home for that long, but I suppose since we've been friends for so long.

I whisper to Al, "Hey, do you think Winry's been acting a bit funny since we got home?" He looks surprised. "No, I don't think she's any different. Why do you think that?"

I just stared at him, then looked at my hands as if they were more interesting. "Nah, never mind then," I told him.

He hesitated to talk for a moment, then he spoke, "…. Okay then… I think I'm going to go to bed too." I nodded, "Good idea. It'll be good to get some Zs," I said.

I patted Al's shoulder as we walked up the stairs, both trying to be quiet for the one person sleeping at the moment. We went to our rooms, and I closed the door slowly behind me.

I sighed, taking off my shirt and shoes, too tired to change into anything else at the moment and dove right into the bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was totally asleep.

Later On During the Night

I awoke abruptly, full of drool and confused. I looked for a clock or something in the room, but no avail.

I took a quick peak out the window, and the moon was still out. I yawned and slowly made my way to the bathroom.

As soon as I closed my door behind me, I heard a faint voice. It seemed as if it had a melody to it. A song or someone humming of some sort.

I staggered around the house to see if it was indoors or outdoors, but no matter where I went in the house, the volume was the same.

I quietly closed the door to outside and took a deep breath of the cool air before finding the person with the tune. I went around the house, but I stopped as soon as I saw Winry sitting on a hill, facing the moon. I hid behind a tree and tried to listen to what she was singing. It was faint, but I could still hear it.

_Never to return, my sweet farewell,_

_His love never to be returned to me._

_The voices captured are like a spell,_

_My gentle heart is bloomed and free._

_My love, my life, my family lost,_

_No one else but me._

_All paid with a reasonable cost._

_No longer known as three._

"Winry," I said subconsciously. Her head whipped around in my general direction. I slapped my hands over my mouth to keep myself quiet.

I looked at her face, and she had tears slowly running down her cheeks. 'Winry,' I thought. She got up, and rewrapped the blanket she had over her body and started walking indoors.

All I could do was just stand there, watching her. But her song. I've never heard it before. It must have some meaning to it.

I sneaked around the house to the doorway, making sure Winry wasn't still out here. The coast was clear and I went back in.

I tried as hard as I could to get up the stairs without making a lot of noise. But you know that feeling when everything around you is quiet, and everything you do seems REALLY loud, even though you're trying to be quiet. I felt that way right now.

As soon as I got up to the top of the stairs, Winry was coming out of the bathroom, eyes red, but no sign of tears.

'CRAP!' I thought. "Ed? What are you doing up?" she asked me. I struggled for an excuse. "Yeah, uh, well, you see, I was, um, going to the bathroom, but when I saw that someone, in this case you, was in there, I decided to get a glass of water instead. Oh, and then use the bathroom, whenever the person using it, that's you, got done with it. Ehehehehe…" I said, stuttering and having speaking issues at every word.

"Uh, oh. Okay. See you in the morning then," She said, waving to me a little and going back into her room.

"Yeah…" I said. I sighed. The unexplainable feeling for Winry right there was suddenly disrupted by the fact that I still needed to use the bathroom. I hurried in and out and made my way back to my room.

The first thing I knew I needed to do before going back to sleep or anything was writing down Winry's words that she was singing earlier. I struggled and missed a few words, but I think I got most of them written down.

_Never to , my sweet farewell,_

_His love never to be returned to me._

_The captured are like a spell,_

_My gentle heart is bloomed and free._

_My love, my life, my lost,_

_No one else but me._

_All paid with a reasonable cost._

_No longer known as ._

I looked at it a few times before putting it on my nightstand, next to my bed. I fell into a deep slumber, hoping to understand Winry and her emotions.

A/N: Hey, I have to stop it somewhere. I need deep slumber too right now. Lol. Anyways, big plans for the next chapter… Sorta…. XD

READ AND REVIEW! PLEASE! I do enjoy the fact that some people(not many cough1or2cough) are putting it on their alert list or on their favorite lists, and it is appreciated. It would just be kinda cool to have a review here and there every so often.

;) Thanks for reading!


	3. In the Kitchen

A/N: Chapter 3. Thanks to someone's review, it has made me think, so it'll actually make sense with the story. I thought of an idea, but it might be generic, so… Hopefully it'll be okay… Hopefully I can think of something better… . Enjoy.

Chapter 3

Ed's POV

There were many voices in my sleep. Unrecognizable or distinguishable, I couldn't tell the difference between some. My entire dream was just totally odd. 

_She's not telling the truth, what's she hiding?_

_Maybe something's happened. We should ask about it._

_Don't leave her alone, she's most emotional when she's alone._

_The last thing we need is for him to say no. _

_This is her last year. I'm sorry, we can't do any more._

_It's a shame about what happened. Too bad it she got it too._

_Ed, I'm sorry…_

I awoke abruptly with my head throbbing. I ran my hand through my hair, squinting my eyes due to the escaping light through the curtains.

I sat up for a minute, hoping the pain in my head would only be temporary. I heard a knock at the door. My head hurt more from the knock because it sounded louder than it was.

"Yeah, just a minute," I strained to say. Trying to get up, my foot got caught in the sheet, causing me to fall on the floor, right on my face.

'Like that'll help my headache,' I thought.

"Hold on a second," I grunted, trying to get up. It really is no fun to pull yourself off the floor right after you woke up with a headache. I staggered over to the door, still holding my head.

"Yeah?" I said exasperated, opening the door. Al was standing there, smiling. "Winry made breakfast, if you wanna eat. We'll be in the kitchen when your ready," he said contently. He was obviously in a good mood.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute or so," I told him, scratching my head. He nodded and started to walk down the hall before he stopped for a moment. He turned around and looked at me.

He spoke, "Isn't it great brother? To be back home? Winry's really happy today too!" I looked at him awkwardly.

"Winry's really happy today?" I asked him confused. He looked at me as if I had another pair of arms.

"Of course she is brother. Winry's always glad when we come home." He said.

"Yeah… she is…," I said to myself. Al left to go back to the kitchen and I went back into my room. I walked over to the suitcase, pulling out a clean shirt and shorts. I still needed to unpack, but then again, it was pretty much the first full day we've been in Risembool.

I looked at the two photos on the dresser, which I only just noticed now. One was of Winry, Al and I when we went to the lake when we were 10. The other one was of Aunt Pinako, smiling happily.

I quickly changed into the other clothes and opened the blinds for the window. The room was suddenly filled with an enormous amount of light.

It was right before I closed the door out of the room when I remembered something. I went back in and went to the nightstand. I grabbed the paper with the words on it and shoved it into my pocket.

I abruptly went down the stairs, making loud creaking noises on the way there. I was in the kitchen when I saw Al reading a book while eating and Winry was keeping herself busying in the kitchen. There was plenty of food on the table, but it seemed as if she was making more.

"Good morning," I spoke out loud. Al looked up, "Hey," and went back to reading his book.

Winry stopped what she was doing for a moment and looked at me and smiled, "Good morning Ed." She wiped her hands off and set out 2 more plates on the table. "How are you doing this morning?" She asked in a content tone.

" I'm fine. I have a bit of a headache, but that's probably from all the travelling yesterday. How about you? Are you better today?" I asked her. Al looked up from his book, hearing what I just said with a fork hanging from his mouth.

"I'm fine Ed, I was fine yesterday too. What made you think something was wrong?" She asked me, looking at me.

Her eyes showed me that she really was fine, but something told me that there was a though running through her head. Something like, 'He couldn't have been able to tell. How did he notice?'

I sat down at the table, starting to put food on my plate. "Never mind then," I sad to her. Al looked at me then to Winry, and from Winry to me, and then back down to the book.

"Okay then," she said starting to walk back into the kitchen. She stopped for a moment though, right next to the chair I was sitting at. "What's this?" She said, starting to unfold a small piece of paper. I stopped putting food on my plate, and threw my silverware down, rushing to see if the paper was still in my pocket.

It wasn't.

I looked back up at her, and her voice went low. "Ed, where did you get this?" I could tell she was really serious about this. I failed to come up with a smart excuse.

"Uh, well, you see, I found it in. Um. It was in… A poetry book. Yup, that's it. A poetry book. One I brought from central with me."

Al looked up again and spoke, confused, "But brother, you never had a poet-" I cut him off,

"HEY AL, AREN'T YOU STILL HUNGRY?" Yelling and shoving a pancake in his mouth.

I faked a laugh. Winry was staring at me, so I looked back at her and faked some more laughter. "Hahaha, That Al. He's always eating," I lied.

She was suspicious of me, but she went back into the kitchen before sitting back down. Not realizing Al had been choking because of the pancake I forced down his throat, he managed it spit it out and exclaimed at me, "Ed, you almost killed me! What was that for anyways??"

I closed my eyes, standing up and gathering the plate full of food sitting in front of me. I said in monotone, "If anyone needs me, I'll be eating outside on the front porch."

I left and I could hear Al say behind me, "What's his problem?" I sat down and sighed.

"'_It's a shame about what happened. Too bad it she got it too"_ , Huh? The problem is, who's she and what did she get?"

A/N: Weeee, another chapter done. Hoped it was okay. I would write more, but I usually limit myself to at least 1,000 words per chapter. Sometimes it's more, but it's never less. That and I always seem to write these early in the morning, which I probably shouldn't do, but as my mom says, "That must be when you're most creative." Yeah, at AMVs and fanfics. Don't expect me to draw at 2 in the morning. Anywhoooooo, Read and review, I hoped you like this chapter with the sheet-tripping, pancake choking and what not… :)


	4. At the Worktable

A/N: Wahh, chapter 4. Hopefully this will be longer than the last. If you look at the time indication in the last chapter, it seems as if all of chapter 3 was about 5-10 minutes. It took about 2-3 hours to do it, and it's only about 10 minutes. Phooey. At least it's more detailed… I think… Anyways, onto the 4th chapter! My current inspirational music-Zessei Bijin from the anime, Sayanora Zetsubo Sensei. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Ed's POV

After finishing my breakfast and thinking quite a bit, I made my way back into the house. It seemed a little quieter than usual, as my steps were sounding more echo-like than usual.

"Hello?" I said out loud. Again, it only echoed. I placed my plate into the sink and put my hands in my pockets, starting to walk to nowhere.

I noticed a sheet on the table with scribbled writing on it. I picked it up and read it.

_Brother: Winry and me went for a walk. We'll be back later._

Short, simple and to the point. That was always Al. I looked around the room, the living room to be exact. I remember everything the same, as it was whenever we came home.

I went over to Winry's worktable and saw multiple auto-mail limbs there. There was one that looked similar to the one I had next to a leg. I picked it up and held it for a moment. Had it always been this heavy? I put the hand part of it next to my own.

Both looked, for me, normal. Auto-mail was normal for me, and flesh and bones was normal for me too. I set it back on the table and looked around the room again.

I saw the bulletin board and table with pictures on the other side of the room. I went over there to get a better look at all the pictures that I had missed for so long. All the best memories were intertwined within the photos. There were the two frames on the table with the two pictures I recognized the most.

The one with me and Al when we were really young, standing in suits, and the other with Winry and her parents (A/N: I don't know if the photo is really of them, but I just did whatever.)

There were so many pictures on the bulletin board, some of them I don't remember being taken. I sighed. 'I'm so bored. I forget that I'm more used to doing some kind of activity rather than just sit around.' There wasn't really anything to do either.

The house was clean, so it wasn't like I could help with anything like that. I can't cook, so that's impossible. All I can do is transmute random objects, which realizing now, out in the middle of the country, is a pointless "talent".

I eventually decide to unpack, being I literally had nothing else to do. I went over to the suitcase and opened it up. I started to put things in the dresser. I couldn't tell if I was bored or what, but when I was done, it looked like I crammed as many clothes in the dresser as I could. I frowned.

And I thought I tried to be as neat and tidy as possible. So much for that then. I just decided to rest for a while on the bed, seeing as I had nothing better to do.

With Winry and Al

Al's POV

We were walking down the long path, just talking about different subjects, but mainly about what we missed the last year. Apparently, not much has happened since then. A few customers here and there, but Winry said things were slow around here for the most part.

When we were on the walk, we mostly just enjoyed each other's company. After a while, she spoke softly, "Hey Al, can you help me with something?" I looked at her for a moment, the replied, "Whatever you need help with, I can try my best to help."

She looked at me and smiled weakly. "I've been getting a little sick lately, and so far it's not that bad, but can you help me when I have problems?" She told me.

'Sick? Why hasn't she seen a doctor?' I thought to myself. I spoke to her, "Of course I'll help you Winry. But don't you think you should see a doctor?"

She closed her eyes and still smiled a little, "I have," she said quietly.

She continued, "Al, the reason I asked you to do this for me is because I don't want Ed to worry of me. It would only make the situation worse. That and you're much better when it comes to things like that." She chuckled a little.

I responded to her, laughing a little, "Haha, Winry, you're making it sound like your going to die. I'm sure it's just a cold, and nothing big." She frowned and spoke quietly, "Let's go home."

I nodded and followed her on the path. It was maybe, 10 minutes and then we got home.

We were on the front step and Winry slowly opened the door. She went in and made a beeline for her worktable. She sat down and started to work on auto-mail arms.

As for me, I decided to look for Ed. "ED?" I yelled out into the semi-empty house. After I figured he wasn't on the first floor, and I made my way up the stairs and into his room.

Here was on his bed sleeping. "Hey Ed, we're back," I told him in a loud voice, causing him to sit up abruptly, confused and, for some odd reason, tears were falling down his cheeks. I walked over to him, "Hey, why are you crying?" I asked him. He looked at me for a moment, then wiped his cheeks.

"I was crying?" He said, still confused. I looked at him concerned. I think I am always the one that's super concerned.

"Al, I had the weirdest dream. There was this girl, with short blond hair and glassy blue eyes. She was lying in a bed, with a few people around her. There were two guys who seemed to be holding her hands, and then what looked like a doctor standing in the back. And right before I woke up, there was a deep voice, which said, "It is an unfound and undefined power." And the thing is, I don't even know the girl, or the men in the room, so I don't understand why I'm crying." He explained.

What he just said made my head confused. I just had a promise made and a dream explained in the last half-hour.

"Well, anyways, maybe you want to help make lunch. I'm sure Winry would really appreciate it," I told him. He nodded and got up, following me out of the room. On our way to the kitchen, I heard Winry cough a little from her workstation. We went into the kitchen and decided what to make for lunch.

Winry's POV

I kept tinkering away at the auto-mail I was currently working on. I coughed a few times, but paid no attention to how much. I heard Ed and Al walking into the kitchen. Again, I didn't pay too much attention to it. When I'm working on something, I usually make myself get it done as soon as I can.

I have a customer coming in for an arm later this afternoon. The arm I was making was similar to Ed's but more advanced. After a while, Ed called me into the kitchen for lunch.

I was about done with the with the arm, only a few more checks to do on it. "I'll be there in a minute," I told him. "Hurry though, otherwise It'll get cold!" He said back. "Mhm," I mumbled to myself.

Upon finishing the arm, at that moment, Al came into the room and told me that lunch was ready. I showed him the arm, "What do you think?" I asked him, smiling. He smiled too, "Looks great Winry. Almost like Ed's when he had one," He said. "Yup," I replied.

I started to cough repeatedly. After a while, I was coughing up a little blood. Al stood next to me, patting my back, trying to help sooth anything. As soon as he noticed the blood, he gasped. "Winry!" I just looked at him and smiled.

"Seems I'm coughing a bit too much. It's okay, I'm fine now." I told him, trying to reassure him, but I don't think he was buying it. I wiped the blood the edge of my lips the best I could and went into the kitchen, to wash up before eating.

Al was still in the other room for a moment and Ed was sitting at the table eating his lunch. I did try my best to get to the sink without him noticing any of the blood.

I started to wash it off my hands when I heard his voice. "Jeez Winry. You took so long, now your food's cold!" He spoke in a sarcastic tone. I turned around and mocked him in the same voice, "I'm sorry! I was finishing an arm needed for a customer this afternoon. That is how I get the money you know," waving my hands about, causing water to splash from my fingertips.

He went from a smile to a frown. "Winry, is that blood? On your face?" He asked. I lied to him. Again. "I accidentally cut myself on a knife used for cutting metal. No big deal," I told him, proceeding to wash the blood off my face.

Al came into the room and sat next to Ed. I sad down and started to eat the sandwich in front of me. Both of them were hesitating to eat for a moment but continued shortly after.

After a long silence, Al broke it, speaking, "So is there anything we can do to help around here? I can tell Ed is starting to get bored already," he said laughing.

Ed blushed and nudged Al's side quite hard with his elbow. "I am not bored. Everything around here just seems to be finished or cleaned already." He said to Al defensively.

I spoke monotone, as if I said this all the time, "Al will get groceries every 4 days or when we need it and as for the meals, I'll make breakfast, Ed will make lunch and Al will make dinner. There are puzzles and games in the closet. And the house can always use some sort of cleaning. Any other questions?" Ed just looked at me as if I grew a second head.

"Uh, okay," he said. "That's fine with me," Al stated. I finished my sandwich and got up, putting the plate in the sink. I walked out of the kitchen, and I could hear them talking quietly about something.

As soon as I got back to my worktable, someone at the door knocked. I went to the door, and standing there was the person who was getting the new arm. "Hello, come right this way and we'll get your arm on real quick." I told her, smiling and leading the way into the living room.

She smiled back and spoke, "Thanks Winry. I don't know what I'd do without you."

I made her sit down and got her the arm and spoke quietly to him, laughing weakly,

"Well, you'd better get used to me not doing your auto-mail anymore. You know about it just as well as I do, Dr. Westing."

She just smiled back at me grimly and spoke again, "Yes Winry. I know." I worked on her arm and she just, as usual, withstood the pain. As a doctor, the pain didn't affect her much.

After I got it in the shoulder port, I spoke, "Why don't you try it out?" She moved it perfectly and smiled, "It's perfect," She said pulling her sleeve back down.

I smiled at her and started to yell annoyed, "Ed, Al, I know you're listening. Get your butts out here!"

I swear I heard a small, "Eep!" from the kitchen, then two bodies moving into the living room.

"Ed, Al, this is Dr. Westing. She's my doctor for annual check-ups." I told them. "Dr. Westing, this is Edward and Alphonse. I've told you about them before. Ed's the short blonde one, and Al is the tall tan haired one." "SHORT?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT" Ed exclaimed. She smiled and laughed, "Nice to meet you, Winry has told me so much about you two," she said. Al was looking at me with eyes just screaming, "She's the doctor?"

I looked away from him and started to talk to Dr. Westing. "Come back in 10 weeks for a check-up, to check on your auto-mail." She nodded and spoke to me too, "Your appointment is in 3 weeks. Don't forget to take your L.M.s, okay?"

I nodded and she left, closing the door behind her. "She was nice," Ed said. "Yup," Al agreed. I started to walk towards the stairs.

"I'm going to go take a nap," I told them and proceeded up the stairs. I got to my room and after closing the door and locking it, I walked over to my nightstand.

There were only two objects there. A wrench and a bottle of medication. I opened the lid and took 2, right before drifting into a dark slumber.

A/N: At least 2,000 words this chapter, I'm happy. A slight spoiler, I dunno, the M in L.M. is medicine. You can try to guess what the L stands for, but I'm not gonna tell. READ AND REVIEW! Thanks for reading!


	5. Raiding the Linen Closet

A/N: Chapter 5, up and on its way. I love how the audience (readers) know something before a character does, and you just want to scream, "NOO!! THAT'S NOT RIGHT! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" etc. Haha. Anyways, I really really hope I captured the emotions okay.

Chapter 5

Winry's POV

In my dream, I kept recalling all the horrid memories, from years ago to recently.

"_I need you to make an arm for me, so I can become a state alchemist."_

_"Aren't you satisfied with my auto-mail Ed? I promise that I'll work hard and make you a better one if you come home."_

"_I'm sorry Ms. Rockbell, but she died in her sleep while at the hospital."_

"_Winry… It makes me sad to say this, but you've got it too. It might have been because you were around her a lot more than anyone else was, so that's probably how you have gotten what she had…. You might not have much longer left… Make the best of it…."_

I sat up, panting and sweating.

I clutched my knees close to me and started to bawl.

I just kept crying and crying until the repetitive coughs came back. I couldn't stop and after a few minutes, Al burst through the door, but making sure to lock the door behind him.

"Winry! Are you alright?!" I kept coughing up blood and it seemed as if it would never end. He started to hand me tissues he got out of nowhere for me to cough in.

Ed knocked on the door and yelled concerned, "Is everything alright in there?"

Al responded, " Yeah, everything is fi-" but I cut him off, swearing at Ed, "Dammit Ed, go away!"

Al looked at me shaken. It went quiet outside and the coughing seemed to stop for a while.

I started tearing up again, putting my face in my forearms.

"Al, hand me two of those pills," I told him. I heard the bottle being shaken up and his voice quietly spoke, "Here."

I took them with glassy eyes and swallowed them quickly. I put my head back into my arms.

"Winry, this bottle says its _lung medicine for lung cancer_…." He said quietly, "Winry, what aren't you telling me?"

I looked at him, tears forming at the corner of my eyes. "Oh Al," My voice quivered.

"I have a disease now… They say it's… fatal… I didn't want to tell you guys because…"

I started to bawl.

"I knew it would make you so sad… I hate to see your sad faces."

Al, who was sitting next to me on the bed, started to cry a little too.

"Winry," He spoke softly, pulling me into a hug. I hugged back as hard as I could.

"A-and Al?" I spoke into his ear sadly.

"Granny Pinako isn't working in another place. She's dead. She died a couple of years ago, from the same lung cancer I have now… B-because I spent so much time with her, I-I got the same thing."

He grasped my shoulders and was crying a more now.

"Winry, why didn't you tell us?" He said, his voice trembling.

I looked at him with depressed eyes, "Because I didn't want to see the way you look now."

He frowned and stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes with his sleeve.

"Where are you going?" I whispered worried.

He looked at me a smiled very weakly.

"No where Winry. I'm going to be here all night next to you, so you don't have to be alone again. I'm just going to get some stuff," he told me.

My eyes went big, I smiled a pure smile, then burying my head into my hands.

"Thank you…" I barely whispered. I heard him unlock the door the close it behind him. I looked around the room. It was very dark.

"Has the world always been this lonely?" I spoke inaudibly.

Al's POV

As soon as I closed the door behind me, I had to wipe my eyes again to be rid the tears upon my face.

I walked and stumbled down the stairs, only to find Ed on the couch, reading a newspaper.

He looked up when he saw me.

"Man! It's about time you were done. I'm starving! And what's with Winry? She's being all spazzy over noth-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled at him, "Just **SHIT UP**! And scrounge around for your own food, 'cuz I'm not making it!"

I fumed into the kitchen, grabbing a garbage bag and started throwing random snack food into it. I could tell he was just staring at me with a blank stare.

"And you can fend yourself for one night, because I'm going to stay up with Winry and… catch up on things, so you can't interrupt us."

"What? What are you guys going to talk about? Is it about me? I wanna know now, is it about-"

"For the love of God Ed, **NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU RIGHT NOW!**" I practically screamed at him.

He stopped and again, just stared at me blankly. I realized what I just said, but I didn't care.

I proceeded to put food into the bag. After that, I was starting to make myself up the stairs with the bag of food before I stopped for a moment.

"Good night," I yelled to him. And went back up stairs.

Before I went back into Winry's room, I raided the linen closet for extra pillows and blankets. I grabbed a bunch and when I was at Winry's door, I realized my hands were full and I knocked on the door with my foot.

She opened slowly at first, but upon understanding it was I, she opened it quickly.

I threw the blankets and pillows on the ground and set the food to the side.

I went back over to Winry and gave her a hug. She hugged me back.

She spoke quietly, "Al… You don't know what it was like… being alone in for so long…"

"Winry, we're here. For good."

She nodded into my chest. I laughed a little, trying to lighten the situation up.

"It looks like I've grown taller than you now." I told her. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Haha, yeah, I guess you're right. Too bad Ed's still a bean.

_(At the same time, Edward Elric sneezed.)_

We set up a mini fort in Winry's bedroom, and set up the snacks and such like a bar. Only at this time, I noticed she had changed her clothes.

"Hey, when did you change clothes?" I asked her. She was wearing a large button up long sleeved shirt and shorts.

"Magic. Alchemy to be more exact," she said laughing.

"I can't even do that much," I replied to her.

"Nah, I changed when you were gone. You were being pretty defensive down there," she said.

I got an awkward face on, "We'll, yeah, he was being a butt… He deserved it…" I told her.

She laughed. I decided to get the answer. All of the answer from her, right now.

"Winry," I spoke to her, looking at her sternly. "Tell me everything from the beginning…"

A/N: T-T No kidding, I swear I'm not lying, it's 100 percent true, I started to cry a little writing the confession part with Winry 'n' Al… Stupid tears

(Hacks eyeballs with Kleenex).

I am very proud of this chapter, even though it was another 10 minute chapter there, a 4 hour chapter our time.

I hope you liked it too and I hope I expressed the emotions well enough. If you have any questions regarding the story, please!, Don't hesitate to ask!

Read and review! Thanks for reading!


	6. Going to the Hospital

A/N: Yawn, chapter 6… I really want this to be a long story… Like, more than 12 chapters… This chapter will mainly consist of memories from Winry, because, since Al wants to know what happened and how, she will be explaining it all.

Chapter 6

Winry's POV

Al spoke quietly, "Winry… Tell me everything from the beginning…" I looked at him sternly.

I asked him in the same tone, eyebrows slightly furrowed, "Are you sure you want to know?… I don't want this to break you."

He just responded simply, "No one could have been more broken than you…" My eyes were big.

I closed them shortly after that. "Very well… I'll start from the first time…" I told him, starting to remember the past.

_"Are you sure you don't want me to wake Winry up?" Pinako asked the boys. _

_Ed responded dully, "Nah, if you did, she'd only go on about auto-mail maintenance." _

_"Very well. Have a safe trip back. And come back home whenever you feel like a good home cooking," she told them, smiling. _

_Ed just rolled his eyes, "Yeah, as if we'd come all the way back to the boondocks just for a meal." They started to walk off when I waved to them sleepily from my window._

_ "Ed! Al!" I yelled to them. Ed just scratched his head, eyes narrowed and continued walking. He waved to me. _

_Al waved too and they went into the distance. A few moments later I was down in the living room, and Granny was picking up around the house. _

_  
"Make sure you clean off your worktable," she reminded me. "_

_Yeah, I suppose I haven't touched it since Ed was here," I mumbled to myself. _

_I was picking up various items and putting them away. When I picked up an extra auto-mail arm, I heard a THUD. _

_I put it down and called out into the house, "Granny?" There was no response. _

_I looked around the house worriedly. I found her lying on the kitchen floor. "_

_GRANNY!" I yelled, rushing to her side. _

_"Granny! Wake up Granny!" I told her fiercely. I was starting to cry because I didn't know what was going on. _

_"Granny, I'll be right, I'm just going to call the doctor," I told her, my voice shaking. I got up, running and stumbling to try to find the phone. _

_I got to it and I started to call the doctor's number, my fingers shaking pressing the keys on the phone base. _

_I heard a dial tone, and it seemed as if it was forever before someone answered. "Hello, Risembool Medical Office, how may help you?" I heard a voice say. _

_"Please! Help my grandmother! This is Winry Rockbell! Granny.. She j-just collapsed. Please! She needs help!" I stuttered and cried.  
_

_"Okay, we'll send out some people. Did you say your name was Winry Rockbell? You live in the big yellow house?" She asked me. _

_"Y-yes. Please, come quick." I spoke quietly. "Okay Winry, someone will be out soon. Just stay calm okay?" she spoke to me sincerely.  
_

_"Yes ma'am," I spoke. I put the phone down and ran back into the kitchen. The first thing I checked was her pulse. _

_Her heart was still beating, but her breathing seemed short and quick. I held her by the shoulders and kept her head elevated. _

_'Why is it now that I'm panicking so much I can't think straight?' I thought to myself. I looked around the room, hoping there was some sort of comfortable spot for her to be on, but it was the kitchen. There isn't much in the kitchen. _

_There was a quick knock at the door. "Winry Rockbell, are you in here?" A loud male voice yelled. _

_My voice quivered and I yelled back, "We're in the kitchen! Hurry! Please!" There were two large men running into the kitchen and a small woman following behind them. _

_They put Granny on a stretcher and whisked her out the door. The woman kept me where I was. _

_I protested, "Why won't you let me go with her? I'm the only family she has left!" I stuttered. "_

_Ms. Rockbell, I'll need you to stay here for a while. Just so they can do tests without you worrying so much." She said politely. _

_"Not worry so much? Are you kidding me? My grandmother is being sent to a hospital and I can't go!" I cried. _

_She put her hand on my shoulder and smiled gently. "Ms. Rockbell, I'll be here with you, don't worry." I looked at her seriously and nodded. _

_"Now, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" She asked me, making her way to the couch. I swallowed. _

_"N-no not at all." I told her. She sat down and smiled, patting the seat next to her. _

_Gesturing for me to sit down. I walked over to her and plopped into the seat. _

_"To start off, Ms. Rockbell, my name is Dr. Joan Westing. If you ever have problems with anything, don't hesitate to call me. After a while, we'll be like best friends, I can tell you that." I looked at her and she handed me a card with her name and other info on it._

_ I took it and put it in my pocket. I looked at her again and tried to smile, "Call me Winry, please." _

_She nodded and looked at the clipboard that she got out of nowhere. "_

_Now Winry, we'll just start of with the basics. How old are you?" She asked me. "I'm 15 years old," I replied, taking deep breathes. _

_"Okay. Do you have any other relatives?" "No. My parents died in the Ishbalan War so Granny is the only other relative that I know of." I told her. _

_"Do you have many friends?" She asked me. "I have 2 best friends, Edward and Alphonse Elric. We've known each other since we were kids. And then there's Pinanya from Rush Valley and Sheska from Central… There are probably more, but I can't… think of anything right now…" I told her, still slightly rattled. _

_"You know Edward and Alphonse?" She asked me. I sighed. This question was asked repeatedly. _

_"Yeah." _

_  
"Well that's good." She told me enthusiastically. _

_"Huh?" I was confused.  
_

_"Trisha, their mother, was my patient when she was alive. Most of the time it was just for the births of her two boys. She would tell me the best stories about them. You too. She would always say, 'If those two keep growing up the way they are now, their lives will be perfect. And I know for sure that if Ed and Al are with Winry, they'll always be the happiest.'"_

_ I looked at her suprisingly. "S-she said that about me?" _

_I didn't know about Ed and Al's mom a lot, but I knew she was a kind, loving woman. I always idolized her for being someone that you could easily be kind and love with. _

_"Yup, and from what I've heard from other doctors in Central, it sounds like you did a perfect job being with those two. They have kind, tender hearts." She spoke gently to me. _

_I was still shocked. No one had ever said anything like that in my life to me. _

_I replied to her, "To be honest, I've never gotten a comment like that before. I wish I could have gotten to know Trisha better." _

_She looked at me sincerely, "Thanks to your guidance and patience with them, Trisha is very happy right now, I can tell." _

_I looked at her with glassy eyes. My eyes were diverted from her face to her arm. It had an unusual metal glow emitting from it, meaning it was unusual for a person with a normal arm._

_ "Auto-mail?" I asked her. She picked up her arm and showed it to me. "Yes, there was a car accident and I lost my arm," She said._

_ Her arm looked old and it was starting to rust. She probably hadn't gotten it replaced in a long time. "I can get you a new arm." I told her, holding her arm and inspecting it.  
_

_"Really? I've been looking for a new one for a while, but I wouldn't have thought of going here." She spoke. "Yeah, no problem, we'll just have to take measurements one day to get it fitted," I responded, still inspecting. _

_"Haha, thanks. Well, we've probably spent a good amount of time talking, would you like go to the hospital to see your grandmother?" She asked me, putting her arm on her side. _

_I had totally forgotten about what happened. I was so busy talking to Dr. Westing that it had eroded from my mind. "Yeah," I told her shakily, suddenly being frightened once more. _

_"Okay, we'll take my car," she said, getting up. I got up too, and followed her out the door._

_At the hospital_

_I saw her lying on a bed sleeping. There was another doctor standing next to me holding a clipboard in his hands. _

_"Dr. Westing said you were her granddaughter, correct?" he asked me. "Yeah. Winry Rockbell." I told him, "Will she be okay?" _

_He turned to look at me and spoke, "We still have to do a few more tests. But since you're here, would you mind if we did a few tests also? Just a some blood tests. and a test to check your lungs." He asked me monotone. I looked at him with glazed eyes. _

_"Yeah, that's fine," I told him, and he led to another room. _

_I sat down on a chair and he sat down also, "So we are just going to do 3 tests. One to just make sure you have healthy blood, one to make sure you have enough white blood cells, and then one more." He told me. _

_"What's the last one for?" I asked him worried. _

_"You don't need to worry about that, Ms. Rockbell," he said, preparing a needle. _

_"Lucky for you, the white cell test and healthy blood test are going to be taken with the same needle, but are 2 different tests." He spoke again, cleaning a small area on my upper left arm._

_ There was a quick poke into my arm, and I saw a thick red liquid being sucked into the needle and tube. _

_He pulled out the needle, and put a bandage wrap around my arm. "_

_Thank you Ms. Rockbell, for the other test, I'll need you to lay on the table for me," He instructed. _

_I nodded and went to the large bed like table a few feet away from me. I lay down. "Would you mind pulling up your shirt a little? I need to check your lungs," he asked. _

_I nodded again and did as instructed. He put a cold stethoscope onto my flesh, causing me to react to it. He checked a few spots and checked where my diaphragm was. _

_I coughed a bit and when I did, he stopped for a moment. "Is there a problem doctor?" I asked. _

_"No, it's fine," He said, putting the stethoscope around his neck. _

_"Thanks for coming in Ms. Rockbell. We'll let you know if anything happens. I suggest you just go home, get something warm to drink and head to bed. It'll calm your nerves." He told me._

_ I nodded and proceeded out the door. "Thanks," I told him and left. I thought to myself, 'Thank god Granny is okay.' And made my way back home._

_The next morning_

_It was early when I awoke to a loud ringing sound. I looked around my room confused. I sat up for a moment to return to reality. _

_"GRANNY? YOU GOT THE PHONE?" I yelled. _

_Then I remembered again. _

_Granny was at the hospital. I stood up, stumbling down the stairs to reach the phone. I answered it, "Hello, Rockbell residence," I said sleepily and yawning. _

_"Winry? This is Doctor Westing." I sat down with the phone not sounding surprised. _

_"Right. You were calling about your auto-mail appointment I assume," I still said sleepily.  
_

_"Not so much Winry, something happened." She said sadly. _

_"Hm? What happened?" I asked, still very much asleep. _

_"Winry… Your grandmother died. I'm sorry Ms. Rockbell, but she died in her sleep while at the hospital." She said straight out. _

_"Right, what was the thing you wanted to tell me?" I asked again. _

_Then it hit me, "What did you say?" I asked her. _

_"Winry, she died in her sleep. We're very sorry. I'm coming to pick you up in about 10 minutes." _

_I dropped the phone. '…. She's… dead… I'm all alone now….' I just sat there, doing nothing, just staring into space. The only two words running through my head were Alone and Dead. _

_There suddenly felt as if there were no reason to live. No one else would be here and no one else would care. Alone. 'No… If something happened to me, Al would be sad. Ed would be sad… But they're never home…' thinking, still staring off into the distance. _

_There was a knock at the door. "Winry?" I heard from the other side of the house. "Winry, I'm coming in." A female voice said. Looking at the ceiling, I heard footsteps.  
_

_"Winry, I'm sorry." She said, sitting down next to me.  
_

_"They won't come," I said to her softly. "Who won't Winry?" _

_"The tears…" I told her, with a sad look on my face. I would not cry and the tears stayed trapped. _

_"Winry, we'll need you to come to the hospital with us. And that way, you can see your grandmother one more time." She said. I nodded brainlessly and stood up. _

_My soul had left my body and I felt like an empty shell. She put a coat around my shoulders. All I was wearing was shorts and a big shirt. "_

_Let's go Winry," She told me quietly. I nodded and we went to the car. She helped me get into the backseat and sat next to me. There was a large man driving and another woman in a white coat sitting next to him. It felt as if it was forever to get to the hospital, but at the same time, very quick. _

_She got out and she extended a hand out to me. "Winry, we're here," she said. I looked at her and took her hand._

_ I got out, and she continued to hold my hand. "I'm here for you Winry," she said, holding up our joined hands. I nodded and she led me to Granny's room. _

_And there she was, lying on the bed, looking like she was still sleeping. _

_I went into the room alone and went to Granny's side. _

_"I'm sorry Granny…. If I knew you were sick… I would have done something about it…" I told her, my voice stuttering. _

_"Granny, I love you… I'll take care of Ed and Al for you too. Just…. Say hi to my parents for me. I love you…" I stood up and went to the door. _

_"Goodbye," I whispered and left. Dr. Westing was outside along with a few other men, just chatting, until she saw me and stopped. _

_"Winry, there's another reason we called you here." She told me. I suddenly became much more worried than before. _

_"Did something happen to Ed and Al?" My voiced wailed. _

_"No, those two are fine. If you follow me, I'll tell you," she said. I followed her to an empty room much like the one I was in yesterday. _

_"Sit down," she instructed. I did as I was told and I sat down, putting my hands in my lap. _

_She spoke, "Winry… It makes me sad to say this, but you've got it too. It might have been because you were around her a lot more than anyone else was, so that's probably how you have gotten what she had…. You might not have much longer left… Make the best of it…." _

_I was again very confused, "What? I don't understand," I told her. _

_"Winry, your grandmother had a lung disease. Normally, people wouldn't get it so easily but since you were around so frequently, you got the same disease she did. She must not have said anything or gone to get medicine before, because it was already too late to treat her when she got here. And unfortunately, the disease is fatal. The only chance of surviving it is going through vigorous treatment and taking lots of medicine for it, but still, most of the time, people don't survive anyways. I'm very sorry Winry." She explained. _

_My voice quivered, "Haha…. This isn't a very good day… How much do I have left?" _

_She looked at me, "It's different for everyone. But the more you cough, that's a sign that it's getting worse. I'd say that you would have about another 3-4 years left. I know that isn't long, but it's much longer than other's have had." She told me. _

_"Thanks for telling me Dr. Westing." I told her, standing up. "Thanks for everything." _

_She stood up too, "Winry, I'm here if you need me. Now, we're more friends than doctor-patient." She told me. _

_"Yeah," I spoke silently. "They will drive you home. Take care of yourself, okay?" She asked. _

_I nodded and left. I went outside and went to the car that was running, getting into the back. _

_"Rockbell residence?" The large man asked. "Yeah," I told him, and we drove off. '_

_Why can't I cry when I need to?'_

"Winry… I'm sorry," Al spoke. I spoke monotone, "Al, I don't need apologies. It won't do anything."

"So have you been going through treatment and taking medicine?" He asked. "Like no end," I told him.

"So… If you have about 3-4 years left, and that happened about 2 years ago, then…. It could happen anytime," Alphonse said softly.

I just looked at him, "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep," I told him, lying my head on the pillow next to me.

He nodded and he did so also. I thought to myself, 'So… It's really not that long left, isn't it?…' And went to sleep.

Ed's POV

There were still talking and it was about 2 in the morning. I only stayed up because it wasn't like I could sleep with them talking so much.

After a bit, the talking stopped. "Finally!" I exclaimed.

I was in my room, just waiting for them to stop. When it was silent, I sneaked out of my room to investigate for whether they were really talking about me or not.

I opened Winry's door slowly to find them both sleeping on the floor. 'Ugh… They are such slobs!' I thought, sneaking around the garbage on the floor.

I looked around her room, on her dresser, her bed and her nightstand. There was nothing on the dresser or the bed, so next was the nightstand.

All that was there was a wrench and a small bottle. I remember the wrench, as it was always continuously being thrown at my head.

I picked up the small bottle and tried to read it in the dark room, but no avail. I sneaked my way back out the door, not trying to wake them up.

I got out in the hall and turned on the light. The bottle read that it was for Winry Rockbell. There were some pills in the bottle and it also read,

"Take as many as needed for lung cancer (Lung medicine)."

A/N: Maaaaaaaaan! This chapter took forever! GAAAAH! Over 3,000 words! Well, you peoples better like this chapter… It really did take forever, thus the late update… **NO FLAMING THIS CHAPTER**! It's long enough the way it is, I don't need people pointing all it's flaws. I know there are flaws…. Read and review! Thanks for reading!


	7. In Deep Slumber

A/N: Okay, the next chapter is here, but there are some things I would like to clarify before I continue. Mainly regarding the reviews. To clarify that I'm not stupid and I know what I'm writing about.

One: I KNOW you can't catch a lung disease. That's why it's fiction. I couldn't think of a better way to have her get it.

Two: The reason Al yelled at Ed in the earlier chapter because I wrote Ed as an annoying idiot at the time. I had to get him to shut up somehow. (I know Al swore at after he said, shut up, but that was a typo, I swear!)

3: AL AND WINRY ARE NOT BEING PAIRED IN THIS STORY! I wanted to have Al have a strong, major role in this story as much as the other characters. And Al's matured, so he might have done things you normally wouldn't have thought he would.

That's all I wanted to say, so no one thinks differently. Now onto the chapter. And sorry for the EXTREME (echo echo echo) update, but I've been EXTREME (echo echo)ly busy.

Chapter 7

Al's POV

I awoke to abrupt shaking, "Al, wake up! Please!" I heard a voice speak worryingly.

I muttered, "Come on Winry, what's the matter. It's still early."

"Alphonse, you have to wake up!" She stuttered again, "I can't find my pills!" I sat up slowly.

"Fine, I'll help you find them," I told her rubbing my eyes. "So, where did you last have them?" I asked her, standing up and stretching.

"I had them on my nightstand and they aren't there, Al. I swear, I put them there and you know I wouldn't forget. Especially for something like this!" She worried. I could tell she was really stressed over this.

"Maybe it fell on the floor or something. It's gotta be around here somewhere," I suggested. I started looking around her nightstand. After long searching, we reached the conclusion that it was most definitely not there. "Winry, we should really ask Ed. He may know where it is," I told her, thinking of what to do in this situation.

Her eyes went big, "No Al, we can't do that! We just can't" She started to tear up.

"Here, we'll go ask him if he's seen the bottle. I'll hold your hand if it makes you feel better," I told, trying to get her to smile a little.

She nodded and I grabbed her hand, leading her down the stairs. We went to the kitchen and saw Ed at the table with a piece of toast. Along with the toast on the table were a small, orange bottle and a piece of paper. He looked at them sorrowfully.

"Hey Ed, you haven't by any chance seen a little bottle around have you?" I asked him straight out. He turned to look at me and then noticed Winry behind me.

He still had the sorrowful face on. "You mean this one?" He said slow and in monotone.

He held up a small orange bottle that had small writing on it. I looked at Winry and she nodded a little.

I looked back at Ed, "Yeah, that's the one. Can I have it back?" I asked him. He put it back on the table and spoke quietly.

"How long were you planning on keeping this from me Winry?" She gasped a little. I turned to her and hugged her shoulders, just to try to make her feel better. She had her hands up to her mouth and tears were going down her cheeks.

"Winry, I haven't even been here at least 4 days and this is what happens…" He said quietly, standing up. He continued,

"_Never to return, my sweet farewell,_

_His love never to be returned to me._

_The voices captured are like a spell,_

_My gentle heart is bloomed and free._

_My love, my life, my family lost,_

_No one else but me._

_All paid with a reasonable cost._

_No longer known as three."_

Winry… Do you think I honestly didn't notice?" He asked.

She remained silent and I felt like a 3rd wheel stuck in a horrendous battle.

"Winry, why did you hide this from me?… Did you think I didn't care? I couldn't understand enough? I need you to tell me Winry… Because…" He paused.

Her tears continued to trickle down her face.

He sighed, "You thought I wouldn't understand. You say that you're no longer known as three, but you meant that since Al and I weren't here, we could be together, all of us. And you say that your life, love and family are lost, but you still have Al, Aunt Pinako, me, and you still have your valuable life. They aren't all lost. And you said that his love would never be returned to you. But…"

He paused. "I never said I didn't love you."

She shook her head, burying her face in her hands. She turned to me more, but the more Ed spoke, the more I wish that I could be here for Winry, but still let them speak to each other without me being here.

He walked over to us and she seemed as if she were more frightened than ever before.

"Winry, you need to listen," he spoke persistently. He grabbed her wrists and she started to cough horribly.

"Ed, the bottle, NOW!" I yelled to him, even though he was standing a few feet away from me. He quickly scattered back over to the table and brought back the pills with him.

"Here Winry, take some," I tried to offer her some, but she didn't take any. She just kept coughing. Her tears started getting mixed up with the blood she was coughing up and it was a horrendous mess.

"Winry," Ed tried to speak to her, but as soon as she finished coughing, she fell asleep.

I was holding her in my arms for a few moments until Ed spoke to me, "Why Al?… Why didn't she tell me?"

I looked at him sternly, "Brother, I'm sure there's a deeper reason to it."

He nodded and said quietly, "I'll take her to my room to get more sleep." I cautiously handed her to him and he picked her up and put her on his back. He went up the stairs until I couldn't see him anymore. I whispered quietly to myself.

_"An unfound and undefined power(check chapter four)… What is your mind thinking of Ed?"_

HUUUUUUURRRRR!!! Such a short chapter... Sorry, but I'm seriously tired and I have school tomorrow. The only reason I posted this next chapter was cuz needed to make an update, but I didn't have much time so... This was a little update for it.

It was around 1,000 words, and I have a break coming up soon(four day weekend), so I'll try to use that time and create another update.

Sorry for all the quickness of things. Ed was bound to find out about it eventually, so better now than never. Read and Review, thanks for reading!


	8. Into the Heart

A/N: BY GOLLY I LOVE THE NAME OF THIS CHAPTER!!!I kind of feel… Eh, about continuing right now, but I'm seriously tired, but not tired enough to sleep. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Hopefully there'll be some EdWin (that is if she wakes up –evil laugh- Just kidding.) But I have thought of a good EdWin something or other for this chapter. Actually, a Taiwanese drama (show) inspired me to write it this way. I really liked that scene (in the drama), so I tried to reproduce a little it here. Maybe I'll mention the name of the drama at the end of the chapter… But it'll be a lot of brainpower in here. Lotsa thinking. And it was amusing to see people's reviews with sighs of relief that it ISN'T and Al/Win pairing. I can't understand how they could be paired in the first place. Whatever, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 8

Ed's POV

He looked at me sternly, "Brother, I'm sure there's a deeper reason to it."

I nodded and said quietly, "I'll take her to my room to get more sleep." He handed her to him and I picked her up and put her on my back.

I took her up the stairs and into my room which the curtains were still closed. I was up all night trying to understand, trying to think about how I could have missed all this.

'It's only been 3 days since we've been home, and this is how horrible it gets. Winry's not very good at keeping secrets'

I laid her on the bed and she didn't stir at all. Pulling up the covers, I wondered why it wasn't a dream.

I know there is more to this "lung cancer" she has. Something she's not telling me. I pulled up a chair from the corner of the room to the side of the bed.

Sitting on it backwards, having the back of the chair in front of me, I took her hand and just looked at it.

Just for some strange reason, just looked at her hands and her. Her face looked angelic as she was sleeping and it looked as if she didn't have a trouble in the world.

"Ed," I heard her say softly. I looked at her.

"I'm here Winry don't worry," I told her.

"Edward, I'm sorry," she spoke again. Her eyes weren't open, but I'd figured she was awake again.

"It's fine Winry. You just need to rest now and gain more strength," I responded to her.

"Edward, you may not know, but you've helped many people," she spoke, "You've always been there for people when they need it the most and you never give up hope, especially when it seems like the world is against you." She was struggling to speak.

"Winry, you just need to rest, don't speak right now," I tried to tell her. Her eyes were still closed.

Her face suddenly lit up and she smiled a gentle smile, "Edward, you've helped me so much. You've left to go somewhere time after time. I never thought you'd come back home. Even though whenever you came home, your automail would always be busted up," she laughed a little, "I always seemed to be mad, but I was never mad. I was actually glad you were home and okay. Automail can be easily replaced, but a life is cannot." She stopped speaking and just continued "sleeping".

I continued to look at her and the entire time she was talking, her eyes never opened up once.

I spoke quietly to her hesitantly, "Winry?… Are you talking in your sleep?" She remained silent.

I moved from the chair and sat on the bed next to her. I held her hand.

"Winry, you need to wake up," I told her, "You need to wake up at take your medicine." She didn't stir. I stood up and left the room.

Looking for Alphonse, my head was moving around in multiple directions. 'Never mind Al,' I thought and I rushed to the phone.

I called the Risembool Medical Office to talk to Dr. Westing. I got he receptionist at first. "Hello, may I talk to Dr. Westing?" I asked her.

"She's out of town at the moment, but I'll connect the phone line to her." I nodded into the phone and I heard a couple clicks and a voice.

"Hello, this is Joan," a woman said.

"Dr. Westing, this is Ed, Winry's friend? Winry's in a real deep sleep, well, I think she actually unconscious. Anyway, she needs to take her medicine but she won't wake up," I stuttered.

She replied, "Well, before you do anything, you need to check her temperature. If she has a fever you need to take care of that along with her medicine. But if she's not awake, you need to find a different method of getting her to take it. Make sure she's drinking water. Keep an eye on her for me and I'll be back tonight. If anything else happens or she wakes up, call me again. I have to go now Ed, do you understand what I just said?"

I stood there blankly, "Uh yeah, okay." I heard a click from the other side and I set the phone back up.

Even though I was only on the phone for a few minutes, it seemed like forever and I rushed back upstairs.

She was still lying there, not moving. I went over to her and I felt her forehead and compared it to mine. Her forehead was much hotter than mine was.

"She needs to drink and she needs her medicine, what can I do?" I kept asking myself and pacing back and forth.

After a while, I figured out a solution.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the best one in my opinion.

"No no no, I can't do that! Winry will be furious!" I said quite loudly to myself, also blushing.

'But, Winry desperately needs her medicine and her fever will get worse if she doesn't drink. It's the only solution.' I thought to myself.

I went back downstairs to get a glass of water and her pills.

I went back upstairs and sat down in the chair that was positioned next to her bed. I was blushing hard.

"Winry, please forgive me for this," I told her, even though she couldn't hear me.

I put some pills in her mouth and I drank some of the water, not swallowing it. I slowly went to Winry's lips until hers met mine.

The only solution I could think of for helping Winry was feeding her water, and unknowingly,

take her first kiss.

A/N: Nyuuuu! I seriously couldn't think of a good way to put this. . Sorry it's such a short chapter, I'm tired, but I know I needed an update. This was replicated off that one Taiwanese drama (or at least the main gist of it), but still. It's different when it's an anime/manga entirely! Anyway, read and review, and pray/hope they're be more EdWin fluff or something in the next chapter. I know I hope so, even though I'm writing it!


	9. Into the Mind

A/N: Man, I am so pumped to keep writing this story! I don't know if part of it is because of RPs that I'm doing. They're so angsty and stuff right now, I just love it:D I play Winry. It was Thanksgiving dinner when things got suddenly angsty. Basically…

_Ed asked Winry out the day before the dinner, she said yes, and they began dating. Ed told Al about before the Thanksgiving dinner (I assume), and time passed, Al was awkward and everyone else was awkward. _

_Winry thought she should leave because both Ed and Al weren't… Verbose, or talking very much. Ed told Winry to stay. Al told Ed that he shouldn't lie to Winry, Ed said he wasn't. A little fight and Al goes into the living room, then on a walk to cool down. _

_Ed and Winry talk, and then go into the living room so Ed can try to relax. Later, Ed kisses Winry, and Al walks in on them, and they part. _

_Winry worries and Ed goes to talk to Al. They both flip out and Ed goes back downstairs. Another few minutes later, Al goes back down and starts being all… Rude? _

_And says, "Sorry if I'm interrupting a make-out session. I have a right to be here too, I live here." _

_And Ed gets mad for even mentioning that. He says he's going to bring Winry home and mention that maybe Al just wants to look up "stuff" on the computer. _

_Then Al sinks to an even lower level and hands Winry a small plastic thing, telling her to be careful, because she doesn't know where Ed's been. _

_Winry gets embarrassed and Ed is furious. He brings her home, and the Elrics have a fight, leaving them to retire to their rooms, hurt and mad. (The Elric fight was told to me by the person who plays Ed.)_

See? It's just so angsty, I love it! XD Tomorrow, Ed and Winry are supposed(but I don't know if it's confirmed for sure or not.) to go on a date, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes. Anyway, I've ranted enough about angsty FMA roleplay, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 9 

Winry's POV

I slowly awoke to a dark room. My head hurt like hell. "Owww," I pained out loud.

I held the back of my head, hoping the pain would disappear.

I carefully studied the room, not too fast due to the pain in my skull.

"This isn't my room," I said to myself.

I suddenly heard deep breathing and I stiffened. "H-Hello?" I said out loud.

"Winry…" I heard a light mutter. I looked at the side of the bed. Ed was sleeping on the side of it.

'Had he taken care of me?' I thought to myself.

I suddenly noticed my lips felt tingly, but I couldn't figure out why.

'Ugh…. I still feel so tired… And sick.' I thought again. I swung my legs over the other side of the bed, and stood up slowly, not to cause any dizziness.

I sighed and slowly made my way out of the room. "Night Edward," I spoke quietly to him.

I closed the door and waddled through the hall. Into my own room I went and I plopped down right into my own bed. My head still hurt, and I felt a huge wave of nausea and felt feverish.

I coughed a little bit until I slid under the covers and tried to fall asleep again.

Into a dark abyss I could so easily recognize.

Ed's POV

The sun seems to be my greatest enemy sometimes. I woke up painfully, my eyes hurting, trying to adjust to the sunlight so quickly.

My back felt screwed up too, due to sleeping in a chair and on the side of a bed all night.

I rubbed my eyes and spoke, "Good morning Winry." I put my hands on the bed and opened my eyes after trying to adjust to the sun.

All I saw was an empty bed.

"Winry?" I asked, starting to worry.

"WINRY!" I yelled into the empty room. Al suddenly came rushing in.

"What's the matter?" He asked worriedly.

"Winry's not here! I'm sure that she was here last night, you know it!" I explained to him. His eyes went big with fear.

He scrambled out of the room and zipped down the stairs, checking the lower level for her. I searched the upper level and as I checked, she wasn't in my room, the bathroom and Al's room.

I just prayed with all my might that she'd be in her own room. I braced myself, really for nothing, and swung the door open.

She was lying there limply in the bed. "Winry!" I exclaimed and rushed over by her side.

My first impulse was to check her wrist for a pulse. Her just lying limply on a bed would obviously make someone assume the worst.

She still had a pulse, but her breathing seemed short, shallow and quiet.

I tried to sit her up, putting my right arm around her shoulders. "Winry, you need to wake up. Winry," I spoke to her, shaking her slightly. "Win, you need to get to a doctor. Wake up Win."

It was no use. "AL!" I yelled for him from where I was. He rushed up immediately and sighed. "Thank goodness she was found," he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Al, go call Dr. Westing. Something wrong is happening with Winry. She won't wake up now… But I can't figure out how she got in here. I didn't wake her up or didn't wake up myself at all either. Did you?" I asked him. He shook his head. "I didn't do a thing," he said and with that he was off to the phone.

Al was gone and I just kept staring at Winry.

"Ed…" I heard faintly. It was Winry's voice, but she didn't move or speak at all.

"Ed… C-Can you hear me?" The voice said again.

"Winry?" I asked her, not taking her eyes off her. She still was still.

"Ed… I can't talk for very long right now… I can… talk to you more later… but right now… I need to ask you something…" She said quietly.

I nodded and kept on watching her. Still, she didn't move an inch, unless you count the shuddering I was experiencing.

"Ed… Do… Do you love me?" She whispered. I noticed a single tear dropped from her right eye. I brushed it away from her face with my hand and nodded.

"Yes Winry, I love you…" I told her in a whisper also. After that, there was nothing else heard.

She shed a few more tears after that, each looking like a crystal, rolling down her cheek. Al came back upstairs.

"The doctor said she'll be here in a few hours. Something about being stuck in Central or something." He informed me. I nodded, only looking at him for a second.

He paused. "Do you want me to leave you alone?" He asked quietly. I nodded.

He turned around and was almost out the door.

"Wait!" I yelled. He turned around, surprised by the sudden halt.

"What?" He spoke. I looked at him, then Winry, and then back to him.

"Dreams," I told him slowly.

"The undefined power… Al," he paused. "I can hear dreams."

A/N: Wheeeee, hopefully you like the chapter. It was very short, and I think a fourth of this was taken up by the RP rant up on the top. Hoped you liked. Read and review!


	10. Into the Gate

A/N: So so so so so so SO sorry for the late update. School has been bad, and I have been lazy, so that combination isn't really the best.

Remember that I know that you can't catch a cancer. I've had at least 9 years of education (sophomore now, woo oho!), I know that you can't catch cancer. I wish I could take back what I wrote before. And the dream thing… That's kinda stupid too, haha.

Enjoy this next chapter, and I hope you like it!

**Chapter 10 **

**Ed's POV**

"Wait… What?" Al sputtered, "what do you mean by dreams?" I looked at him for a moment before speaking.

"I think… At first it was different… I had dreams of what it seemed like people that I didn't know or voices… Whatever it is, I know it sounds insane, but I think I can hear dreams…" I shook my head, still holding onto Winry. "I think I'm also insane." Al came back to the bed for a moment.

"Okay… Calmly explain how you think this works again?" He scratched his head in utter confusion. I paused for a moment.

"Never mind…" I muttered, "it's no big deal." Al raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"I'm going to call the Hospital, and see if they can have someone come out here temporarily till Dr. Westing gets here." I nodded, looking at Winry.

I heard the door close and I held her hand tight. I caressed her cheek again. The tears that were once rolling down her face had dried. She seemed colder, so I pulled more blankets up onto her body.

"Winry…" I spoke softly. "I-I know you can't hear me right now… And I know for sure I wouldn't be able to live with my self if you were awake right now."

I started sympathetically, but ended up sounding sarcastic. "Everything I'd say now, I'd be so embarrassed about, if you really heard me." I paused again.

"I'm sorry I haven't been here for you. I'm sorry I couldn't know what was going on when Aunt Pinako kicked the bucket." I took a deep breath. "And I'm sorry for not finding out that you loved me sooner." My eyes slightly watered up. I brushed them away and kept talking.

"I'm sure you were in love with me for the longest time, but I was just too much of a selfish, arrogant jerk to realize it. I was only focusing on one thing at the time…"

I stopped to breath, "We actually really have different ways of thinking. At the time, everything to me was a priority, but there were things that made it seem like Al and I getting back our bodies was our top priority. I never really stopped to think about you or Aunt Pinako. I know, I know, it's very selfish… But seeing you here, watching you slowly die…"

My eyes were watering up even more now. "It's one of the hardest priorities to get through right now… I love you so much, and I can't believe I couldn't see it before. We always thought that we were alone in this world, Al and I… That nobody understood our problems… You understood our problems, and even though you knew we'd be gone for a long time, you'd cope with being alone, just so we could figure out our lives…"

I sighed, and sniffed. Tears were running down my cheeks now, it was no stopping them.

"Look at what you've done Winry," I joked, trying to laugh. "You've actually made me cry. Me! Of all people!"

I wiped my eyes again. "Please, Winry… I can't understand how you were feeling for the last few years, but I'm sure you can understand how it feels to lose someone you really care about. For the people who care about you, seeing you in this much pain, is really scary."

I tried joking again, "Not that you're scary or anything, but you with your wrench can be pretty intimidating." I sniffled.

"Please… Winry… Don't go with your mom and dad yet. Don't go with Aunt Pinako yet. You still have so much of your life ahead of you…" I heard the door click slowly. I continued talking to her.

"Y-You can't be the world's best Automail mechanic if you're not around… I can't be with you if you're not here. We can't kiss, or hug. We can't get married or have children, or grow old together if you going to go away… P-Please Winry… I love you, I can't have you go."

I left go of her hand to wipe away my tears. I looked at the door again, and Al was there, standing at the doorway. He had tears rolling down his cheeks too.

I looked towards the window. "I-I just had something in my eye." I kept wiping my eyes. He just walked over to me, wiping his eyes also.

"T-The doctor will be here in a few minutes…" He sniffled.

"Fine…" I muttered. "Do you want to watch Winry, or should I?" I asked him, tired from the crying. He shook his head.

"Y-You watch her. It'd be best…" I nodded and sat back down. He left to wait downstairs.

"I guess he heard my entire rant." I sighed. I looked at her again. Her face was so angelic, but it looked too painful to look at. Looking at it, possibly knowing I may never see this face again. I touched her face again, and then held her hand. I laid my head down next to hers, where I had fallen into a deep sleep.

_A faceless figure sat in front of me. I had no emotion on my face, and I was confused as to where I was. "Who are you?" I asked monotone._

_ He just smiled._

_ "What, you don't remember who I am? Where you are? And I'm the one who took your arm and leg too." _

_My eyes snapped open. "What!? Why am I in the gate??" I freaked out._

_ "You've already opened the gate once before, you know the gate is now inside you." He pointed to me. "You're only here because you have something you want." _

_He still smiled. "But I'm in a dream, how is this possible?"_

_ He shook his head, laughing, "Oh, this is far from a dream. You're in the gate. And you have something you want. What is it?" _

_I clenched my chest with my right hand. "I-I have someone I love who's dying… How can I save her?" _

_"Oh, so she's not actually dead?" _

_"No, on the verge of though. Tell me, what can I do to fix it, to make it go away for her? I'll give her half my life energy if I need to." _

_He shook his finger. "Nope, not enough. Even if you gave her half of your life energy AND your life span, meaning, half of what's remaining of your life, it still wouldn't be enough." _

_I yelled, "then please!! Tell me what I need to do to save her!" _

_He smiled. "When you say save her, do you mean from death, or from her sickness that is slowing eating at her from the inside?" _

_"Everything! Save her from her sickness, save her from death! Please!" _

_He was suddenly in my face. "There's just one additional thing I need you to give up, along with half of your life span and life energy." _

_I started tearing up from being so upset, "Tell me now! What can I do!" _

_He smiled maniacally._

_"You need to give up your love for her."_

_I paused. "What?…" _

_"First, when you give up half of your life span, your life will be half of what it should be. So if you were to die in 20 years, you'll die in 10.' _

_'Second, when some of your life energy will be taken away, you will lose your ability to use alchemy, which is the least of my problems.' _

'_Third, when you wake up from this, you will no longer love her. You will still love others, but you will never be able to love her again. Even that friendship you had will cease to exist. Friendship is maintained on love, and without it, it doesn't exist." He smiled and paused._

_"You'll be complete strangers."_

"_Are you willing to accept these terms?"_

_I paused. "I-I have no other choice… " I swallowed. "I accept these terms… Save Winry, please… I'll do whatever it takes…" He smiled. _

_"Then it's agreed…" And darkness swallowed our surroundings._

A/N: DUN DUN DUN! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I was doing Ed's monologue, and I'm like, "Aw crap… How am I going to end this story? I want to keep it going, but I'm out of ideas," And then it hit me like a stale Easter Peep. "Fall out of love! WOOT!" And there you have it. This means they're definitely be more chapters out. A definite promise! :3 I can't guarantee how soon, because I'm still as lazy as ever, but they will be out! I hoped you liked it! REVIEWS PLEASE!!


	11. Into the Lost

A/N: Another update, say what

A/N: Another update, say what?? I know, I'm surprised too. I guess having my best friend in India makes me really bored. So here's another chapter. I'm not feeling the best right now, so if this chapter is really crappy, it's because I'm feeling crappy.

Chapter 11

Al's POV

Ed was sleeping on the side of Winry's bed. It made me smile, seeing them together like that, but it made me sad. What Ed was saying earlier was one of the saddest things I have ever heard. I didn't mean to listen in on it, but once I heard him talking, I couldn't stop listening.The doctor had come and was waiting outside the door, so I went over to where Ed was. I shook him awake.

"Ed… Ed, the doctor is here, we'll need to leave the room for a moment." He slowly lifted his head up. "Okay Al," He spoke while rubbing his sleepy eyes. He stood up and casually glanced at Winry, and then left the room. I followed right behind him. The doctor looked at us as we left.

"You can go in now," I smiled at him. He nodded and went in and shut the door. Ed was already halfway down the stairs when I stopped him.

"Aren't you going to wait outside the door for Winry?" He just shrugged and went down the stairs. I followed after him again. "So what are you going to do now?" I asked him, slightly confused.

"Try to figure out where I am." He looked around the living room. I smirked, thought he was playing a joke.

"Nice Ed, but really, this isn't the appropriate time to be playing a joke like that." He turned around and snapped at me.

"I'm not playing a joke, where the hell am I?" My face dropped.

"You're at Winry's house. We've been here for the last few days." I scratched my head. "Did you bump your head or something?" He paused, just looking at me.

"Winry… The girl who lives down the street from us?"

"Ed! What's wrong with you?" He snapped again.

"What's wrong with you! I woke up in a house I'm not entirely familiar with, and you're yelling at me, saying I'm mental?" His face was all scrunched up. He was really angry.

"Maybe you need to sit down." I slowly took a step towards him with my hands out. He just took another step back, still just as furious.

"I don't need to sit down, I need someone to tell me where the hell I am!" He rubbed his head furiously. "This is insane, I can't figure out what's going on." He said fiercely.

"What happened?" I asked him quietly, seeing how he'd respond.

"All I remember is falling asleep, and when I wake up, I wake up next to a blond girl. Who is she?" Now he started getting me angry.

"ED! That's Winry. We've been best friends since we were young, and just an hour ago, you were crying about how she was dying in front of your eyes, and you couldn't do anything about the person you loved the most."

"No I wasn't." He snapped back. "How could I not remember something that happened an hour ago?" The doctor slowly stepped down the stairs. I snapped my head in that direction.

"How is she??" I said worriedly.

"Well, when you called me on the phone, it sounded a lot more urgent than it really is." He pushed up his glasses. "From what I can tell, she's completely normal. I don't see anything wrong. I will call Dr. Westing for a follow-up appointment as soon as she gets back from Central." I nodded, still utterly confused. The doctor left and the room was silent.

"Here, I have an idea." I said, grabbing Ed's arm. He was still furious, and I could tell because his muscles were really tense. We walked up the stairs and went to the door to Winry's room. I knocked on the door and waited for a moment, just to see if there would be a response from within. There was no reply, so I went in, still grabbing Ed by the arm, which was still upset about me dragging him about the house. I closed the door behind us. Winry was still sleeping in her bed, though now her face had more color to it, and her breathing seemed to be back to normal.

I let go of Ed's arm. I made my way to her bed to see her, but Ed just loitered in the other side of the room with a grumpy face. I sat down in a chair that was next to her bed and parted her bangs to the side of her face.

"Hey Winry, how are you feeling?" I spoke quietly. She stirred for a moment, but slowly opened her eyes to me. She smiled casually, like she had just woken up from a long nap.

"Hey Al, what's up?" I smiled at her, but glanced back at Ed, who for some odd reason, was looking at his right arm, poking at it occasionally.

"I'm glad you're awake. You really had us worried for a while. How are you feeling?" She shrugged.

"Actually," she spoke, "It seems like I've never felt better! I feel so re-energized."

"A doctor just came in a few minutes ago. It wasn't Dr. Westing, but he said you seemed fine. Normal, like every other person should be." Her eyebrows rose.

"Really?…" She paused. "Maybe something happened…" I just half smiled at her.

"Well, if it seems your well, then we shouldn't have to worry about you as much now." Ed's voice spoke out from the back of the room.

"I never worried about her in the first place." Winry shot an electrifying glance at Ed, who shot one straight back at her.

"Ed, you're terrible, you know that?!" She picked up the wrench on the side of the table and threw it at Ed's head. It hit his head with a loud thud and he went down to the ground.

"What the hell was that, you freak?" He got pissed off. "Al, I'm leaving, I don't care what you're going to say, but I'm leaving." He left to leave the room, but I quickly transmuted it so the doorknob had disappeared off the door.

"You can't leave Ed." I warned him. He just snorted and clapped his hands together.

"You're not the only one who can transmute objects, 'little brother'", he said in a snotty voice. He tried transmuting the door, but nothing happened. Winry was just watching; confused as to all this that was happening. Ed just huffed and moved the chair that was next to Winry's bed to the foot of the bed. He plopped himself down and spoke, "Since I can't apparently leave, OR use alchemy, can someone PLEASE tell me what the HELL is going on here!!" Ed looked fiercely at Winry, who was looking at me, and I was looking at Ed. I sighed heavily and fell to the floor.

"Why do I have to be the one to figure all this out." Winry looked at Ed, who was still looking at her. She smiled to him, like a loving smile, but he just growled at her and looked the other way. "Okay… So let me figure this out… Winry is miraculously better, with no problems of her sickness at all, and Ed can't remember a thing and can't use alchemy at all."

"WHAT?" Winry yelled. She stood up in her bed, for some random reason. And she must have kicked off her shorts at one point in the night, because now she was just standing up in a white button-up shirt and her underwear. Ed blushed hard and glanced away, and I looked to the side. I'm sure anyone would blush from seeing a girl in her underwear and never in my life did I think I'd ever have to see my best friend in her's. She gasped and sat back down in the bed immediately. She pulled the covers over her face, except for her eyes.

"W-What do you mean he can't remember anything?" She spoke quietly.

"He can't seem to remember anything about you. He only recalls we lived down the street from you, but that was years ago." Her eyes started to tear up. I started thinking that maybe if they were alone, it could fix something that had gone wrong with Ed. I got up and fixed the door, and left, leaving them to talk alone.

Winry POV

"E-Ed, you really don't remember?" He glanced at me.

"I just don't know anything about you."

"What happened?" I asked him. If he didn't remember me, this would certainly make my heart break.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" He sighed. "I woke up from sleeping, and when I did, I was next to you. Al came in, and told me to leave for the doctor and I did. I don't know why I was next to you." I shook my head and wiped my tears away.

"Then let's start over right now. Maybe we can do something to get you to remember me." This was really hard for me. I stuck out my shaking hand in front of him.

"H-Hi, my name's Winry, what's yours?" My tears kept trying to sneak out. 'This will not end well,' I thought to myself sadly. He looked at my shaking hand.

"Edward Elric… Why is your hand shaking?" He shook my hand and then pointed to it.

"Because I've probably already lost someone I love dearly." I tried to choke back tears and the pain down my throat. He nodded in understanding. I kept wiping my eyes, but it didn't seem to stop the salty droplets falling down my face.

"Sorry to ask, but isn't this old lady Pinako's house? It seems kind of familiar." I looked at him.

"Y-yeah… She was my grandmother actually. She died a few years back…"

"And you've lived with her all your life?"

I nodded in response.

"It's odd…" He paused. "You've lived here forever with her, but I can't seem to remember anything about you. I mean, I remembered your grandma, but I never remember seeing a blond girl running around here too." He stared at me. "Are you sure we've met before?"

I nodded again.

"Maybe I did bump my head." He sighed. I giggled a little. He just looked at me with a blush on his face.

"Sorry," I apologized quickly.

"It's fine." He said calmly and scratched his head. I sighed and wiped my eyes again. He just looked at me.

"I'm sorry for forgetting… I wish at least knew why I can't remember anything about you." He turned red. "A-and from what Al said, I'm sure you're an important person to me, so this makes the situation even worse." I blushed slightly from his comment.

"A-and you said you just woke up and found yourself sleeping next to me?" I tried to change the subject. He nodded. "So… Maybe can you try to remember your dream?" I suggested.

"Maybe…" He started thinking. He closed his eyes for a moment.

It seemed like it was hours that was passing. I just looked at Ed's face. My face fell slightly, but I had a small smile. I saw the Ed I loved in there somewhere. His face was so serene, I just wanted to reach out and touch it. My hand lifted out from under the covers and was inching closer to his face. Suddenly, his face scrunched up and he looked like he was in major pain. I touched his face to see if he would calm down. My right hand on his right cheek. I felt like I had never been closer to him, even though he was so far away from me now.

His scrunched face went back to normal, and he moved his hand so it was on mine. I blushed. My hand was on his cheek and his hand was on mine. This was definitely a moment to remember, I noted to myself.

"A-Are you okay Ed?" I asked him, stuttering. "You looked like you were in pain." He kept his eyes closed, but still spoke.

"I was just remembering part of my dream." He sighed. "I was back in the Gate, but I don't know why. I only think of the Gate as terrible memories." I nodded to myself. He opened his eyes and noticed my hand and his hand on his cheek.

"Why is your hand there? And why is mine on top of yours?" His face was turning red. I pulled my hand away.

"S-sorry. You looked so serene is all." I was blushing as well.

"But how do you explain my hand?"

"I-I think I read somewhere that even if a person forgets something with their mind, their body still remembers. Like there's two types of memories, the mind's memories, and the body's memories." He looked at me interested. I looked away blushing madly.

"A-At least that's what I've read."

He nodded and looked at his hand. "So my body must remember something important." I nodded in response. "So you have any other ideas? To remember?" He asked casually. I was still as red.

'I love him so much, it almost hurts to not be able to touch him.' I thought to myself.

"I-I have an idea, but it's stupid." My bangs covered my eyes. I was still as red as ever, and I'm sure I was as red as a tomato with the idea I had in my head.

"What is it? I'm sure it's not stupid."

"N-No, it's probably not going to work anyway, because we've never done it before." Ed started blushing also.

"Done what before?" I paused before responding.

"… Kissed?…" I looked away, and so did he.

"D-Do you really think it may trigger something?" He asked wearily.

"T-There's no harm in trying I suppose…" I shrugged. I was starting to shake slightly. He was really embarrassed at this point. I shifted my weight so that I was closer to him. He was just as red as I was. He slowly closed his eyes, so I closed mine. Our faces were inches apart…

For that short moment, I could have sworn I was almost in heaven.

A/N: I needed some place to stop. TT I know, this is a terrible chapter. But a bad chapter will always come out after a good one; that's my theory. I hope you kinda enjoyed it. The next chapter SHOULD be better… Did you all like the secret EdWin I tried to intertwine?


	12. Author's Note

**Author's Note: 3,000 hits on my story! I want to thank you all SO much for reading my story (or stories!). It really does mean a lot to me to know that people will take some time out of their busy lives in our busy society, to read my story. It just makes me smile. Thanks for all your reviews, hits, alerts, and faves! You all rock! Thank you so much! It has been a while since the last update, but I am here to tell you that the next installment of this story in progress. I am just going to ask you for a little more time, because this chapter, I'm trying to reach an ultra long chapter for you. I'm thinking about 5,000 words (and now I'm at 654, lol). Should I make it longer for you, or should it be shorter, so I can get it out quicker? I really want to do whatever the readers' want. So for now, I'm thinking about 5,000 words for this chapter, but if you think it should be longer/shorter, please alert me! Thank you again for everything, I love you all so much! Have a fantastic weekend!**

**One other note though, updates have been put off lately because I've had Driver's Education this last week, and this coming week too. It's 3 hours each day and by the time I get done, I feel like I'm about to fall asleep, so it's kind of hard to write when you're dozing off. I know it's not a good excuse, but hey, I'm 15, I can be as lazy as I want too. Just kidding. ****–smiles-**

**So you guys can get a good taste of what's in the next chapter, here's a preview of the beginning of Chapter 12. Enjoy!**

Chapter 12

Ed's POV

We were only a few inches apart.

'Why am I doing this?' I thought to myself while I was making this unreasonable action. 'Maybe, what if I didn't want to remember?'

Our lips were about to touch, but I backed away at the last minute.

"I-I'm sorry." I stuttered and stood up. I wanted to leave as quickly as possible. I walked to the door, at a fast pace I might add. I had my hand on the doorknob, and was about to turn it.

"I'm sorry about that…" I paused to look at her, the blond girl who was called Winry. "And if anything else happens…" I tried to make a small joke, "blame it on the body memories."

She didn't look too amused, but her eyebrows were slightly raised. I quickly turned the knob and stepped out into the hall. The door slammed behind me.

I faintly heard sobbing from the other side of the door. I sigh heavily and looked at my right hand.

"What am I going to do now?" I put my hands over my eyes. I took a deep breath and continued to make my trek down the hall and into the kitchen. "If I can find the kitchen." I muttered to myself.

I went down the stairs and looked around. After a few minutes of meaningless wandering around, I managed to find the kitchen. There was a note on the table. I read it to myself, mumbling along the way.

"Ed-Went to go see Dr. Westing. Dinner's in the fridge. I won't be back until late, so you and Winry eat it at one point or another. Please try to get Winry to come down and eat, and don't make too much of a statement in front of her. She's still trying to get over some things you may not entirely understand yet. Love you lots, and I'll talk to you later. –Al." I sighed again and looked at the clock. It was 4:30 in the afternoon.

"And he wants me to eat with her too? It's harder to get back into it after you've left." I grumbled. With what had just happened, it was if something extremely awkward had happened to you in a room, and you left that room. It'd be ten times harder to go back in after you left.

**Sorry it's not much! I can't put too much down though, otherwise it'd ruin a lot of the surprise! **


	13. Author's Note 2

Another author's note, sorry!! I am just here to say that along with the continuation of this story itself, I am also making a comic to go with the plot, starting with chapter 1! I suppose you could call it a doujinshi then… Whatever, so yeah…

I will post pages as I complete the pages and chapters, and they will most likely be links to Deviantart and Fanart Central. :)

Thank you again for all your patience! I'm slowly working to my 5,000-word mark! I've got about 1,500 words so far, and I've only written for about 2 hours for the 12th chapter.

Oh! And the alternate title for the comic will be False Illusions, but it's still the same plot as We Were Fine the Way We Were. :) Thanks for you patience, and have a fabulous day!


	14. Too Much to Handle

**Chapter 12**

**Ed's POV**

We were only a few inches apart. 'Why am I doing this?' I thought to myself while I was making this unreasonable action. 'Maybe, what if I didn't want to remember?' Our lips were about to touch, but I backed away at the last minute.

"I-I'm sorry." I stuttered and stood up. I wanted to leave as quickly as possible. I walked to the door, at a fast pace I might add. I had my hand on the doorknob, and was about to turn it.

"I'm sorry about that…" I paused to look at her, the blond girl who was called Winry. "And if anything else happens…" I tried to make a small joke, "blame it on the body memories."

She didn't look too amused, but her eyebrows were slightly raised. I quickly turned the knob ad stepped out into the hall. The door slammed behind me. I faintly heard sobbing from the other side of the door. I sigh heavily and looked at my right hand.

"What am I going to do now?" I put my hands over my eyes. I took a deep breath and continued to make my trek down the hall and into the kitchen. "If I can find the kitchen." I muttered to myself. I went down the stairs and looked around.

After a few minutes of meaningless wandering around, I managed to find the kitchen. There was a note on the table. I read it to myself, mumbling along the way.

_"Ed-Went to go see Dr. Westing. Dinner's in the fridge. I won't be back until late, so you and Winry eat it at one point or another. Please try to get Winry to come down and eat, and don't make too much of a statement in front of her. She's still trying to get over some things you may not entirely understand yet. Love you lots, and I'll talk to you later. –Al."_

I sighed again and looked at the clock. It was 4:30 in the afternoon.

"And he wants me to eat with her too? It's harder to get back into it after you've left." I grumbled. With what had just happened, it was if something extremely awkward had happened to you in a room, and you left that room. It'd be ten times harder to go back in after you left. I stumbled back up the stairs and was just wandering about the house. I managed to get the layout of the house pretty quickly. I even found a room that had all my stuff in it.

"So this is my room then?" I spoke to myself. I went to the dresser and pulled out some clean clothes. I went out of my room and back down to Winry's door.

"Uhm, I don't know if it's okay with you, but I'm going to use your shower." I spoke in a monotone voice to her. I didn't hear any response. "Where is it? Your shower?" I asked. This was embarrassing, asking someone you didn't know at all where his or her shower was, and if you could use it.

"Out back." And that's all I got out of her. "Okay… Thanks." I breathed.

I went downstairs and it ended up taking me about 10 minutes to find it, and then another 10 minutes to figure out how it worked. I probably could've been in and out already if I knew the house better. The water was cold, but I didn't mind. I let the cold water rush over my head. It felt as if all my thoughts were becoming more organized. I looked at my right hand and just stared at it intently.

"Dammit, why is this crap happening to me? Why am I the one to be blamed for making Winry depressed? For making Al upset that I forgot about the so-called 'person I loved.'" I pounded the side of the wall.

"How can I fix what I don't know I've broken." I put my head against the wall and sighed.

I suddenly had a sharp shooting pain in my head, like the one I had before, back when I was with Winry. I grasped my head and fell to the ground.

Images of being in the gate shot into my head. The same being that originally took my leg and arm was grinning at me and speaking. "You're only here because you have something you want." I kept holding my head. The pain wasn't subsiding at all. Another image of me kissing Winry came into my mind too. It was still very light out. There was a small bottle on the side table next to her bed, along with a glass of water.

My head suddenly stopped hurting and I was able to regain balance. The water was still pouring over my head. I sighed and turned it off. I took the towel and dried myself.

"I really wish I knew what was going on." I was really getting sick of this stuff. The painful head things, with the funky memories, and everyone being all depressed because of me.

I put my clean clothes on and started to walk back to the house, dabbing my hair dry. I knocked at the front door at first, but it took me a moment to remember that I was living here. I went on in and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was now much later than I had thought it was. I went back into the kitchen and pulled open the door of the fridge. I threw the wet towel over my shoulder and took out the big pan of food sitting on the top rack.

"This must be the dinner Al was talking about." I said to myself. I looked at it puzzled. "Now was this meant to be heated up, or eaten cold?" I sighed heavily. "That would have helped."

I grabbed a spoon and took a bite of it, when it was cold. A pleasant taste rang through my taste buds. I half-smiled. "Okay, I think this was meant to be cold… Al's a good cook anyway, so I'm sure this would have tasted good heated or cold." I spoke to myself again.

'Do I really talk to myself this much?' I thought in my head. I set the table and put the food out for two.

After all the preparations were done, I trekked up the stairs and to Winry's door. I knocked a few times. "Hello… Winry, can I come in for a moment?" I asked her through the door. I waited a few seconds and then decided to go in. "I'm coming in Winry." I opened the door.

I couldn't have picked a better time, maybe a few more minutes, seconds even. Winry had been changing into different clothes. All she had on was her underwear and a tank top with no other under clothing on. I blushed madly and stepped back a few steps and slowly closed the door.

"Winry… Dinner's ready downstairs." I mumbled. I furiously raced back to my room. I slammed my door behind me and slid down to the floor.

"God, can this day get any worse." I put the cold, still wet towel over my face, hoping to cool down the terrible heat that was contained in my cheeks. I took a few deep breaths and stood back up, throwing the towel to the corner of my room. I looked in the mirror on the wall. There were still hints of red in my face, but most of it was gone. I quickly grabbed an elastic band and put it around my wrist. I thought I'd just let my hair down for a while. Plus it wouldn't hurt to be able to have hair covering my face if something even more embarrassing happened.

Doing one last check before going back downstairs, I safely assumed that nothing else I had on me would make me embarrassed. I quietly walked out of my room and down the hall. The steps only seemed really loud as I tried to keep my entrance subtle. I made it down the stairs and went into the kitchen.

Winry was sitting at the table, and she was eating her food, looking at the table. I looked at her real quick.

She hadn't changed or put anything else on from what I had seen previously. She still just had underwear and a black tank top.

I took a seat opposite from hers. She looked up at me, still chewing her food.

"Hi…" She spoke nonchalantly.

"Hey…" I responded coolly back. "Um… Sorry about upstairs." I apologized. She shrugged.

"It's not the first time you've done it." I blushed slightly and gulped.

"I-It's not?"

She smiled weakly and responded with one answer, "Nope."

I just didn't know what else to do at this point, so I just took a big bite of food. Winry looked at me very concerned, but also annoyed.

"What the hell Ed, you're going to choke if you eat that much at one time." I swallowed everything that was in my mouth in one big gulp.

I moaned to myself. This was really hard, having this semi-stranger sitting across from you, only wearing limited clothing, and having just found out that you've peeped in on her more than once. I don't even know her, but now I feel so guilty for everything I've apparently done. I gulped.

"Again, I'm sorry…" She looked at me with her eyebrows raised.

"For everything that's happened…" I paused. "I feel terrible about all this, honestly. I wish I could crawl in a corner and detach myself from this world. I can't imagine how much it must hurt, just because of me, but I can understand that it's painful. I-I want to be able to make it up to you and Al somehow…" I turned slightly red and stared at my plate of food.

"More or less you though… I'm sure I've hurt you worse." I looked up at her.

She was crying, but still staring at me. "Oh crap, now I've done it, I've hurt you even more. Please don't cry." I worried.

She just smiled and wiped away her tears. "No, it's fine. You didn't do anything." She reached over and touched my hand softly. "You're just sounding like my Ed is all, and I'm happy." I blushed again and looked away.

I tried to change the subject. "Al made a good dinner, didn't he?" She pulled away her hand, continuing to eat with a smile on her face.

"Yes, he did. He always is a really good cook." I managed to smile a little. We both finished up our dinners, and so I grabbed both the plates and put them in the sink. I turned around to Winry standing right behind me. She actually startled me for a moment.

"Did you need something?" I asked, still somewhat shaken up. She smiled at me, with her eyes slightly red.

"Can I ask you to do one thing for me? Please?" Her smile weakened a bit.

"Uh, sure, if I'm able to do it, okay." I stuttered. She looked down at the floor, then back to me with her smile gone from her face.

She startled me by suddenly hugging me. Her hands were wrapped around my chest and her face was digging into my shirt. I wasn't too sure how to respond. I slowly put one hand on her waist and the other on the top of her head. She sighed lightly. We were like that for a few minutes before she pulled away smiling.

"Thank you." I blushed madly and looked away.

"I-It's not a big deal."

She laughed. "You know, I think you've gotten taller."

I fumed, "I was never short in the first place!"

She just laughed and walked to the stairs. She smiled one last time and spoke to me, "Thanks Ed…"

I scratched my head and looked to the side, "Yeah, yeah." And I waved her off.

She walked up the stairs and I was left in the kitchen. I had walked over to the sink and splashed some water on my face, slightly making a mess on the floor and countertops.

I sighed to myself. I washed the dishes from dinner and cleaned up the kitchen.

After I finished, I went up to my room and immediately fell on the bed. I glanced at the clock. It was almost 7. I suppose I could fall asleep at any time, but the thought of Winry being in the room next to mine. It made me turn red. Just sitting there was starting to make my eyelids droop.

As my head was on the pillow, I faintly heard someone singing and it immediately made me fall asleep.

Ed's dream

_Different images shot into my head once again. I continued to hear the singing, and I heard a girl talking, "Remember Ed? You said next time I'd cry, it'd be tears of joy." Then Winry was grinning at me, and laughed, "Ed, I love you!" Her face changed from a smile to a face full of horror. She started coughing erratically and blood started to come out in between coughs. She looked up at me and smiled weakly. With blood all over her face, she spoke softly, "I'll always love you." The figure from the gate spoke also, "You must give up your love for her if you want to save her."_

Winry's POV

"Thanks Ed," I smiled at him.

"Yeah, yeah," he responded coolly and waved to me. I went up the stairs and up to my room, where as soon as I got there, I collapsed against the door. I smiled and looked at the ceiling.

"Maybe it is possible for Ed to remember." I sat there for a few minutes, just sitting in silence. I heard footsteps from the other side of the door. 'Probably Ed,' I thought to myself, smiling at the thought of him.

I got up and went over to my dresser. I rummaged around in there until I found a picture of Ed and I that was taken a long time ago. I kept that out and I ended up finding my original words for the song I sang before. The one I made up when I was really depressed about Granny's death.

I sat on the bed with both the picture and the words on the paper. I leaned against the backboard for my bed and sang softly,

_Never to return, my sweet farewell,_

_His love never to be returned to me._

_The voices captured are like a spell,_

_My gentle heart is bloomed and free._

_My love, my life, my family lost,_

_No one else but me._

_All paid with a reasonable cost_

_No longer known as three._

I really realized how much sorrow I had contained. Ever since Ed and Al came home, my emotions have been on a roller coaster.

I had been depressed, then even more depressed, along with sorrow, and now I was happy, but still sad. I sighed to myself, but still smiled.

'Maybe things can finally get better for once.' I got up and turned out the lights, and made myself comfortable in my bed. 'Maybe Ed can at least remember how much I love him.' And I fell into a deep sleep.

A few hours later (Winry's POV)

I woke up abruptly to the sound of footsteps.

"Who's there?" I spoke softly. The doorknob on my door started to turn slowly. I quickly grabbed my wrench and covered my face with my comforter. I was ready to throw the wrench when the door opened. The door swung open and a dark, tall figure walked in.

"Who are you?!" I spoke louder this time. The figure moved closer to my bed.

"Don't get closer!" My voice wavered. The figure walked into the moonlight that was partially escaping from the window.

The figure was Ed.

I lowered my wrench. "Ed, what do you need?" I spoke quietly. He just stood there for a moment, not saying a thing.

I crawled out of my bed a little to get a good look at Ed. When I was close enough, I had noticed his eyes were closed.

"Ed… Are you sleeping??" I sat back down in the spot I had rose from my slumber. He staggered over to the side of my bed. He had picked up the corners of the blankets and lifted them up, getting under them, like this was his own bed.

I moved over, and hissed quietly at him, "Ed, this is my bed." It was too late. Awake or not, he was already comfortable in my bed, head on the pillow and everything.

"Ed, are you having more body memories again?" I asked him, knowing I wouldn't get a response. I sighed and shifted back to my original position of lying down. This time, I was facing Ed, looking at his serene face.

He suddenly threw his arm around my waist. I jumped slightly. He was still sleeping, breathing slowly. I shifted closer to him.

'I suppose this is the only time I can be with the Ed that loves me.' I nuzzled my head in his chest and his face was in my hair.

"Winry…" He muttered quietly. I smiled slowly to myself.

"Ed, I love you." I spoke my final words for the night, and drifted off into sleep again.

Ed's POV

When I woke up, I woke up very slowly. Wherever I was at, it was the most comfortable and warm place I've ever been at.

I sighed to myself, snuggling more into the blankets.

I lifted my eyelids slowly, and only a little bit. Through the tiny slits my eyes were making, I could only see a fuzzy blond thing in my face. I took my hand and rubbed my eyes, opening them a little wider. I looked down again.

Like I had done so often these last couple of days, I turned extremely red. Winry was hugging my midsection, and smiling slightly. The arm I was lying on was also under Winry's head, and I could vaguely tell that it had fallen asleep.

But it wasn't the worst of my problems. I didn't know what I should do. Should I just lie there, or get up and possibly wake Winry up and face yet another embarrassing moment.

I took another glance at her, and decided that I should go. I slowly pulled my arm out from under her head. She stirred slightly, but she still managed to stay asleep. I then quietly moved her arms from around me, and I stood up without making a sound. She didn't move at all, after I had pulled my arm away from her head.

'She's such a heavy sleeper, yikes.' I thought to myself.

Now that my arm wasn't under her head anymore, it pained me greatly. It had that feeling of pins and needles of when limbs fell asleep. I squeaked the floorboards as I made my way out her door. I prayed to myself, hoping that it wouldn't wake her up. It didn't, to my relief, and I was able to make it outside without waking her up.

I was in the hallway, and pretty much ran to my room, where I closed my door abruptly and leaned against the door. I slid down the door and sighed heavily.

"What was I doing in Winry's room?!" I whispered to myself. It seems like these last few days, I ran to my room quite a bit. I suppose with everything that's going on, it'd probably be a normal reaction.

'I really need to shape up and act normally… Whatever normal is.' I quickly changed my clothes while I was in my room and went out into the hall, closing the door quietly.

I tiptoed my way down the stairs. I knew Winry was still sleeping, but I didn't know if Al was up or not yet. I went to the kitchen and Al was bustling around. He was making breakfast.

"Hey, shouldn't I make breakfast?" I asked him, pointing to the already prepared food.

"Oh, good morning Ed. And I got up early, so I just thought I'd make breakfast." I sat down in a chair.

"Yeah, but you made dinner last night." I stopped to grin. "Which I may add, was delicious!" He laughed.

"I'm glad you liked it. Did Winry come down and eat last night too?"

I blushed and stuttered, "Y-yeah, she did." He turned around to look at me. He just smiled.

"Good. How did you sleep?" He asked, turning back around to continue with his cooking. I turned red and tried to hold back the blush. I gulped. "Fine… I must have gotten up at one point in the night. I wasn't in the same spot I was when I went to bed."

"I thought I would have heard you when you got up." He spoke softly. I stood up from where I was sitting.

"You still aren't sleeping, are you?" I asked him slowly.

He didn't turn to look at me, but replied. "There are a few times where I get only a few hours of sleep, it's fine."

I walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder. "Al, I know you're still not used to having your body back entirely, but you need to eat and sleep. I'm afraid of the results if you don't." I hugged him. He jumped slightly, then hugged me back.

"It's fine brother. I'm eating; I just have some bad nights still. I'll try to sleep, I promise."

We both heard a female voice, "Am I interrupting anything?" We both looked at the doorway, and Winry was smirking. I stopped hugging Al.

"Ed's just being worried about the well being of his brother, like usual." I nodded. She sat down in the spot I was previously sitting in.

Al finished putting the food on the table and sat down in the spot across from her. I sat down next to him and we began dishing food onto our plates. Al spoke while passing some of the food around.

"So Winry, how did you sleep?" She glanced at me first, then replied.

"I think that's the best I've felt in a long time." I took a slow, deep breath and managed to keep my cool, for now. "How did you sleep Ed?" She asked, grinning.

"I slept okay." I responded monotone, starting to eat my food.

"Ed said he thought he got up in the middle of the night or something." Al butted in. I stared down at my plate and continued eating.

"Really? Hey Ed, why did you have to get up?" She asked. I knew she was purposely doing this to me. I gave her a quick scowl and continued to look down.

"I was using the bathroom."

"I see." She smirked.

I could totally tell she was thinking, 'Yup, keep telling that to yourself, you know what you did.' Right now, she was just trying to get me to announce to the entire world that I woke up and found myself in her bed.

Al looked at Winry, then back at me. "Did something happen when I was gone last night?" I shook my head.

"Nah, nothing out of the ordinary." Winry said, starting to eat her own food.

"With the way things have been going lately, nothing seems ordinary." Al joked, laughing.

Winry giggled too, "That's true… So, where were you last night?"

"Oh, Ed didn't tell you? I went to go see Dr. Westing. I needed to ask her a few things."

"Ah, I see. And no, Edward failed to mention it to me. He was too busy being embarrassed and blushing like a maniac." She grinned at me. I gave her a glare, slowly chewing on my food.

"What were some of the things you wanted to talk to the doctor about, Al?" I spoke quietly.

"Just about Winry, about my sleeping problems…" He said the last part quietly, "memory loss."

"What?!" I blew up at him.

"Brother, I wanted to know. Even if you didn't want to remember, I'd still like to know what's happened to you."

Winry suddenly looked sad. I looked at her with fury. I was plenty angry now, and for almost no reason.

"Why are you getting sad? I'm the one who should be having the most problems! You're plenty healthy! I don't remember anything at all, and every since I woke up yesterday besides your bed, you've been making me do all these things that are making me so uncomfortable!

First it's almost a kiss, then it's walking in on you when you're changing. You can at least ANSWER someone when they're talking to you.

Then you hug me, because you're lonely. Hell, if Alphonse still knows you, why don't you hug him?

And then I wake up, not only with an arm that's fallen asleep, but also with you right next to me! Why the hell was I in your room anyway?

And now you're trying to get me to totally acknowledge that I was in your room, when in reality, I don't want to keep remembering me waking up next to someone I don't know."

Al just sat there with his mouth wide open and Winry was looking down at her plate, and she had tears in her eyes.

"Dammit, this is driving me insane! I hate having to play this game of "Mr. Nice Guy," when I even admit it to myself, I'm NOT NICE!" I laughed in between, but I was still plenty ticked-off.

"And to top it all off, I keep getting these pain in the ass headaches, and fucked up images of all this random crap I don't even know about!

Headache One: I'm back in the gate, which is the last place I want to be, with that freak thing in there grinning at me.

Headache Two: Being back in the gate, AGAIN! Only to tell me that I'm only there because I want something, and then I'm kissing her! And finally, so far, it's actually a dream, but my head does hurt pretty bad right now,

Headache number three: A girl singing, talking, and bleeding from the mouth, confessing her love to me. And then I'm in the Gate again… FOR A THIRD TIME! This time, only saying, "You must give your love for her if you want to save her."

I huffed and breathed hard. I was really angry, and actually yelling all that out made me feel a lot better. Al just still looked at me blankly, but was starting to stutter something.

"W-Wait…. What was that last part?"

I replayed what I had just said in an annoyed tone, "You must give up for love for her if you want to save her." I had been standing up for the last few minutes, and paced back and forth.

Now, I just looked back and forth between them, my arms crossed in frustration.

Al looked at Winry, and Winry looked at Al. Winry was still crying, but she had started to smile a little bit.

"I-I don't know if I should be happy or sad." I grunted and looked away. Al looked back at me.

"You did all that stuff to Winry?" He was majorly surprised. I quieted down, but was still angry.

"Both of you are just trying to make me the bad guy here now." I picked up my plate with the remaining food left on it. "I'm eating on the porch." I mumbled and left.

I swung the front door wide open and Den was outside, running around in the grass. I pulled out a chair forcefully and sat down in it. I took a bite of the toast that was on my plate and leaned back in my chair.

"Can this week get any worse?" I sighed. 'I know for sure I'm a terrible person, but I'm not sorry for what I said. So much has been happening, and I'm not used to all this." I covered my eyes with my hands.

"I just wish I could be somewhere else right now."

I heard faint honking and the sound of a revving engine. I uncovered my eyes and looked up. There was a car approaching the house.

I took my toast with me and walked down the steps. The car stopped as soon as it got out of the house and a woman with a mechanical arm stepped out of the vehicle.

"Can I help you?" I asked her monotone.

She smiled and spoke, "My name is Dr. Joan Westing, I think we've maybe met before. I know this may sound strange, but may I ask you to come with me to do a few tests." I looked at her strangely. "You don't need to worry, I'm a friend of Al and Winry's."

I looked back at the house and took another bite of my toast.

"I'll do it. Anywhere is better than here." I get into the car and the car sprung to life and we were on our way to an unknown destination with a stranger.

_A/N: Well, okay, so the actual chapter is 4,896 words, not 5,000 or above, but I honestly can't think of anyway to extend it further._

_I'm sorry for Ed blowing up, and sorry for all the crazy EdWin that's been happening. I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for everything! Hits, reviews, faves, alerts, everything! You all rock!_

_Oh, and most likely, don't expect a new chapter soon. I need to think out a structure for the next chapter. That, and I need to get back on track with my EdWin pairing. Right now, I'm really into Elricest or Hei/Ed (From the movie), so yeah. It may not be the best to write a EdWin fic with that on the mind. So yeah, have a great day!_


	15. At the Hospital

Chapter 13

Edward's POV

I shifted in my seat.

"So…." I glanced at her slightly, still nibbling on my toast. "How much longer till we get there?"

She turned to me and smiled, "Not much longer now, it's just a few more houses down." I nodded in understanding.

I looked out the window, watching the houses go by. The sun was glaring in through the window on my side. After squinting my eyes, and readjusting myself to the sun, I noticed an oddly familiar metal glow coming from the person next to me. I looked down.

"Automail?" I spoke softly. She glanced back to me and smiled gently.

"Yes, I got in a bad car accident a few years ago. Winry really helped me by giving me a new arm; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to continue being a doctor." She lifted up her arm, pulling her sleeve down more, so I could get a good look at it. "I guess there are a few people who really can create miracles."

I sighed quietly to myself. What was it about the girl I knew nothing about, Winry, that attracted everyone around her? Why was it she was one of the most gifted, with brains, looks, and miracles? Why do I sound like I'm a girl jealous over another girl? All these questions confused me so.

Just as I swallowed my last bite of toast, the car halted and I was jerked forward. The doctor just smiled as me as I was recovering from my close experience of choking on my breakfast. She got out of the car and gestured me to get out as well.

In the back of my brain, I suddenly felt very uncomfortable with where I was and who I was with. I shook it off and stepped out of the unfamiliar car, following her into the slightly large building.

As soon as the front doors swung open, the environment and air around everything changed. Everything was sterilized and white. Some doctors walked with a calm look on their face, while others ran from room to room their face with frightening looks that could make a person worry insanely. I gulped and fastened up my pace, so I was closer to the doctor. The hospital was never one of my favorite places to go, whether it was just for a check-up, or it was because it was an emergency.

Dr. Westing suddenly stopped and turned around, right in front of a door.

"This room please," She gestured to go into the room, still having a sweet smile. I lowered my head slightly, going into the room.

I was actually afraid of what the room would be like… Maybe all metal with sharp needles and a big table, that almost seemed to have the words, "Death" and "Doom" written all over them. To my surprise, it was just a small room with pastel colors on the walls, and a small table with two chairs. There weren't any needles, or any metal tables.

I managed to calm down a little bit, and took another deep breath. I took a seat that was closest to the window in the room. Dr. Westing closed the door behind us and took a seat right across from mine. She still smiled calmly.

"Now today I just want to get some info from you, ask some questions, and maybe suggest some ideas to getting that memory back." She spoke quietly to me, as she flipped through a folder with papers that had my name on them. I paused for a moment, and then nodded slowly. I understood what she was saying; it was just that I was very nervous in this room, which is located in a hospital.

Did I mention I didn't like hospitals?

She stopped flipping through the papers for a second. "Edward, you don't need to be afraid of me. If it makes you feel any better in the least, I helped your mother give birth to you. I'm a good person who's here to help." She looked at me intently and touched my hand softly. I suddenly felt like I was a small child again, only with his mother. I looked at her with my eyes down at the table.

"R-Really?" She moved her hand away and nodded.

"Yes Edward… Anything you need help with, I'm here to assist in any way I can." She continued to flip through her papers. She pulled out a few papers and got out her notepad with a pen, ready to write. "Now I'm just going to ask some usual doctor stuff. It's just normal procedure."

I nodded in response. My throat felt very dry, and I felt better if I didn't talk. My eyes were still focused on the table.

"So your name is Edward Elric, you were born here in Risembool. You're the son of Hoenhiem and Trisha Elric, and you have a younger brother named Alphonse." She paused to look at me.

I choked back the dry feeling in my throat, "Y-Yeah, that's all right."

"Any allergies?"

I huffed, "Yeah, Milk…"

She laughed, "Edward, there's a difference between allergies and just not liking something." I fumed and tried to speak with a normal tone. "Either way, I don't drink milk…"

I looked up at her for a quick second. I thought something about her was familiar in an okay way, but enough to make me edgy. Maybe I didn't realize earlier, but my body started reacting to it just now.

She looked like both my mother and Winry… It doesn't make sense, but she has brown hair like my mother's, but her eyes were blue. Her hair was styled similar to Winry's… Up in a ponytail, but having some larger stands out loose. I shuddered to myself.

"Anything wrong?" She asked me, smiling as if nothing was wrong. I tried to smile, but it ended up as a really awkward smile.

"Everything's fine…" She nodded and then quickly wrote something in her notepad. I leaned back into my seat a little. "So what now?" I asked both awkwardly, and casually.

"Now," She spoke, "I'm going to ask you some questions about what's happened the last few days. If you could start from the time everything was different to you and your surroundings."

"Well," I looked down again and I could feel my face turning hot. "Two days ago, when Winry woke up, when another doctor was there, I had no clue what was going on. Al had told me that I was crying over her an hour before that, but I couldn't remember it. Surely I would have remembered something I did myself."

"Interesting…" She spoke quietly and scribbled down some more notes. "Continue," She gestured with her hand.

"Shortly after that, another doctor, not you, came to the house to check up on… Winry." I seemed to have trouble remembering her name. "And he said she was completely normal, as anyone should be." She nodded, having a concerned look on her face.

I looked to her slowly. "Was she sick with something?"

Dr. Westing sighed and nodded grimly. "Yes, she has, well I suppose it's had now. Anyway, she had a lung cancer that was incurable, and was bound to pass away sometime in the next year."

I was shocked. I had no clue that she used to be this sick. "We should continue talking about you. As long as she's fine right now, Alphonse will take care of her." She smiled slightly. I nodded and looked back down to the table.

"Shortly after the doctor left, Al, Winry and I got into an argument, and I discovered I can't use alchemy anymore."

"And you were able to use alchemy before?" She questioned me. I nodded. "I wasn't a state alchemist for nothing…"

I heard fierce pen strokes on her paper. I looked up to look at her notepad. She already had almost 4 pages of notes, including little notes about what she thinks one thing might be, or whatever. Her opinions basically.

I slid back into my seat and sighed. "Okay, resume." She spoke, still writing.

I blushed a little, remembering how Winry reacted to finding out I couldn't remember anything.

"A-Al left the room, and left me and Winry to talk, so we did." I paused. "I probably made her feel worse though." The doctor was looking at me now.

I looked at her too. God, she looked so much like my mom and Winry, it really scared me.

"I remembered the Gate a few times these last few days."

"The Gate?" She asked me quizzically.

"Um… It's really hard to explain, but basically it's where people who die go, but it's bad for those who are alive. Meaning, those who attempt human transmutation, it's a bad thing." I clutched my automail arm under the table.

"Mhmm…" She agreed softly, scribbling more down onto the notepad. "And what did you see in this, Gate?" She put her pen down and put her head in her hands, staring at me intently.

"A few things… Stuff like, this… Well, we'll just say this guy, he told me that to make her all better, and I mean Winry, I had to give up my love for her, and that he was saying I was only there because I had something I desperately wanted."

At that point, the doctor's eyes got big.

"What was that first part?" She said in a surprisingly loud tone.

"Uh, that I had to give up my love for Winry to make her better?"

She stood up abruptly and shoved the notebook into the folder and presumed to pick it up.

"I'll be right back." Her voice seemed hoarse and alarmed.

I just nodded as she quickly made her exit out the door.

I sat there for a few minutes until I could automatically assume she wouldn't be coming back for a few minutes. I looked around the room for a phone. I suddenly had an urge to call back home and check in. They were probably worried… Then again, they probably weren't, due to the fact that I blew up at them only a little while ago.

I sighed and stood up from my uncomfortable chair. It was a tough decision for whether I wanted to call them or not. Eventually, I decided to call them, or at least Al, so I wouldn't worry my own brother.

I walked to the phone that was located on the wall. I dialed slowly the number I vaguely remembered. Maybe I couldn't remember Winry all that well, but I remembered the Rockbells' always did my Automail, so I usually didn't forget their number. As I dialed, I wonder if I knew the number better before I forgot.

The dial tone rang for a few minutes until I heard a click.

"Hello?" A high pitched, female voice rand out into the phone.

I stopped for a minute. 'Darn, it's Winry… I was hoping for Al.' I thought. "Hey Winry, um, can I talk to Alphonse?"

"Sorry Ed, he's not here right now, I think he went out to get some groceries for me."

I put on a quizzical look. "Why is he out running errands? Can't you do it?"

I heard a slight huff and then an annoyed tone. "Thanks for being considerate Ed, but the doctor says I need to rest for a few days, to make sure everything really is normal." I sighed. "I see…"

There was an awkward pause for a few moments. "Sooo… Did you call for any reason?" Her voice rang through the receiver.

"I just wanted to say that I don't know how long I'll be here." I told her.

"Where's here?" She responded in a snappy tone.

"The hospital. Your customer, Dr. Wrestling-"

"Westing" She cut in.

"Yeah…. Westing had me come to the hospital to see if I could get my memory back." There was another pause.

"And how are you able to make a call now?" She asked.

"She ran out of the room after I told her something, and she hasn't been back since." I explained. This made awkward pause #3, after I explained it to Winry.

"Maybe she found something…" She muttered quietly.

"You think so?" I asked, actually, somewhat hopefully Winry was right.

I heard sniffling over the receiver. I spoke softly, "Winry, don't cry… Whatever it is that I have going wrong, I'll get it fixed somehow, because as of right now, it's making ALL of us miserable." She sniffed again.

"Y-Yeah," she choked. "Ed, I love you…" She managed to say. All I really did was nod into the phone. "Y-Yeah… Thanks."

I looked around the room for a moment, and then responded again to Winry.

"I think I should go, she could be back any minute. I'll talk to you later." I could tell she was smiling on the other side of our call. "Yeah! Bye." She exclaimed, still sniffling. I hung up the phone.

"Maybe I might be able to say I love you too, if I get my memory back. That might make you happy again..." I spoke quietly to myself, leaning back against the table. Suddenly, someone busted through the door.

"Edward!"

It was Dr. Westing. She looked at me with a confident look on her face.

"I think we've got it!" I stood upright.

"Got what?"

"Edward, we might be able to get your memory back!"

A/N: Sorry for SUUUCH the long wait, but hopefully this +2,000 word chapter might help you not hate me for not updating for so long, haha… Plus as soon as I'm submitting this (which you'd be reading this AFTER you read the chapter), but anyway, I'm starting immediately on the next chapter! Wish me luck!


	16. Final Chapter

A/N: My apologies for the immensely long awaited update. I'm not sure how many chapters there might be after this, but there probably won't be that many. I'm kind of thinking this is the last one… Just because I want/need to focus on my other story, Frozen Heart, Broken Body… Anywho, enjoy the chapter.

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_Chapter 14_

_Edward's POV_

"Edward, we might be able to get your memory back!" She yelled enthusiastically.

"What?" I stuttered. It took me a few moments to comprehend what she had just said.

"I'm sorry I didn't think about this before, but I had just realized this!" She pulled out a pamphlet, handing it to me, and continued, "There is a new medicine that just came out. It's been used quite frequently on many people, and it's been proven to work perfectly." I flipped open the paper, trying to read the entire confusing doctor lingo contained in it.

"What does it do?"

"It cures any memory or mind lapses that's occurred in the last 72 hours." She smiled. "It'll work for you Edward!" I look up at her. She was glowing, and positively excited about this.

I paused before speaking. "Um… Is there any catches to this?" She shook her head.

"That's the thing, there's no catches what so ever. Should I go get the needle now?" As soon as I heard the word, I stiffened up.

"N-n-n-n-needle?" I shuddered.

"It's a small injection Edward. What do you want to do? Have a small poke, and remember all the important things, or not have it, and keep hurting people?" The way she said made it seem like my choice was so obvious. And she knew I couldn't stand it to see people hurt.

"… P-p-please go get the needle…" I mumbled, stuttering along the way. She just grinned and left the room in a hurry. I sighed heavily and walked over to the window. "Shit… I hope I'm not making a big mistake," I grumbled.

People were walking around in the courtyard of the hospital. Little kids with broken bones, and elderly with other sicknesses. They all were outside, enjoying the glorious sun.

One thing caught my attention while I was watching everything. A younger woman ran up to a man in a wheelchair, which was sitting by a tree. She smiled, and started to cry. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her down into a hug, grinning as he did so. She sobbed, but it was obvious that she was crying tears of joy. He laughed, and then looked at her sweetly. He kissed her slowly, and she responded, doing the same.

"Yuck, kissing…" I muttered.

Out of no where, my head started to hurt intensely, causing me to drop to the ground. It felt like my head was about to crack open. A gush of memories and people came flooding into my head, in a mere matter of seconds.

_I put some pills in her mouth and I drank some of the water, not swallowing it. I slowly went to Winry's lips until hers met mine._

"_Ed… Do… Do you love me?" She whispered. I noticed a single tear dropped from her right eye. I brushed it away from her face with my hand and nodded. "Yes Winry, I love you…" I told her in a whisper also. After that, there was nothing else heard. She shed a few more tears after that, each looking like a crystal, rolling down her cheek._

I remembered everything… Everything.

I was shot back into the gate again. I whipped around, turning to face the Truth. I glared at him. "What are you doing?!" I yelled furiously.

He frowned. "I can't contain your memories." I looked at him slightly confused. He sighed.

"You can have them back. I really only used you for my amusement." He grinned. "Wasn't it just great, to watch you hurt so many people, without having to do a thing?" He chuckled. I lunged at him, trying to attack. He just dodged.

"Bastard!" I swore, "Do you know how much it really hurts to make people you love, cry?"

"I do not experience such emotions, and I do not understand what is so painful either." I just looked at him with and icy stare. His head turned the other way.

"You still can't go alchemy, and you're still going to die sooner than later. But I realized that it'll be more amusing to watch you fall in love with the girl, and see how much more heartbroken she is when you die. Don't you think?" I growled, but started to grin at him.

"Thanks."

"Shut up, human." He muttered. "I can't wait till you die." I saluted to him with 2 fingers.

"We'll see when I do." I said clearly. He didn't say anything, and I was rushed back to my world. No time had passed, and I had apparently ended up on the floor.

"What the hell just happened?" I muttered. I stood up, my knees shaking a bit. I clutched onto the windowsill, using as a support to stand up. I looked out the window again, and the young girl and guy were still kissing.

"Winry!" I yelled out. I rushed out the door of the examination room, startling Dr. Westing on my way out, and almost making her drop everything.

"Edward, what about the shot?" She spoke loudly.  
"I don't need it!" I yelled back, running backwards, grinning. "I remember everything!"

I bolted down the halls of the hospital, and out the doors. My legs were still weary, but I didn't stop running down the dusty road. I had only one person on my mind, and I wanted to get to her as soon as possible.

Winry's POV

Alphonse was sitting next to me, on the floor. I sighed heavily, and my eyes dropped sorrowfully. "What if he never remembers?…" I asked depressingly.

"Winry, he'll remember for sure. You're so important to him." Al spoke softly.

"What if he doesn't though?" I started to sob. "It just hurts so much to wonder what would happen if he doesn't." My heart felt like it was being pulled in so many various directions… It really was painful.

"He will… And, even though the chance is very, very slim, if he did… I think it's pretty obvious that he'd fall in love with you all over again." He grinned at me, his voice filled with compassion. I smiled back at him. He gave me a tight hug, and I did the same thing back. The door flew open, and startled us both.

"Let go of her!" He yelled, sounding quite angry, and out of breath… Is he still mad about this morning? He hustled over to where we were at, and he pulled me out of Al's arm, leaving Al very confused. He pulled me into a tight hug, and spoke fiercely at Alphonse, "I love her Al, and I won't let anyone else touch her."

…

Did he just say what I thought he said?

He turned his face towards mine, extremely red, like a tomato. "Sorry Win," he muttered. I started to cry again. Finally, I had cried tears of happiness… True happiness.

"Oh shit, Winry, don't cry, I'm sorry!" He stuttered, still plenty red. I started to laugh, while crying, which was surely a weird combination to hear. I hugged him back, tightly; for fear that he'd escape from my grasp again.

"Edward… I love you so much." I heard footsteps going out of the room, which both of us knew Al wanted us to be alone. I dropped to the floor again, still sobbing. Ed used his sleeve to wipe away my tears.

"Jeez, Win, you idiot… Did you really think I wasn't going to remember?" I nodded. "Really?? You have that little faith in me?!" I laughed at him statement, wiping away some of my own tears. When I opened my eyes again, his eyes were filled with passion and love. I closed my eyes, and I could feel Ed's breath on my lips, get closer and closer, until I could feel a heat that could not be described, on my lips. We stayed like that for a while, just kissing slowly, until we parted.

I opened my eyes, and Ed looked sad. "I-I'm really am sorry Winry… I caused you so much pain. Do you think you could find it in your heart to forgive me? Please?" His breath tickled my face as he said this.

"Yes…" I said softly, kissing him again.

"I love you…" He muttered.

We were inseparable now. Every person goes through his or her hardships in the ways of love. I figured this was ours, and so Edward and I would be fine… So fine, with our lives. There couldn't be anything wrong with whatever would happen in the future.

_2 Weeks Later_

_Ed's POV_

I stumbled out of Winry's room. It was early in the morning, and my face was already feeling very hot. It was still taking some getting used to sleeping in Winry's room, with her. Either way I didn't mind it too much.

I walked slowly to the bathroom, turning on the light when I got there. I looked in the mirror.

My face was as red as a cherry. I shook my head, and continued to pull my hair up into a ponytail. Turning on the water on, to wash my face, I felt a burning sensation in my throat. I started to cough intensely, and it wouldn't stop. My eyes were closed so tightly; tears of pain were slipping out.

After a while, I had calmed down, and I wasn't coughing anymore. I opened my eyes, and found a horror, draining slowly into the sink drain.

Blood.

_**The End**_

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A/N: LMAO, I'm such a terrible person, ending it like this. Either way, I'm done with this, and I'm pretty happy about it… I mean, I'm happy I don't have to keep worry about trying to update 2 stories (At least 2 full-fledged ones). I know I have to keep working on my 25 Simple Kisses one… Haha, anyway, thanks for sticking with me this long, and I hope you enjoyed the story. It means a lot to me that you enjoyed this, and hopefully you'll enjoy any other future works I may compose. Again, thank you so much for your support! I love you all!


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